The Beginning of Hope
by Shizunami
Summary: She's dreamed of being a Companion all her life and when she is finally one of them, she finds more than she could of hoped for. She finds excitement, friendship, and a family. But soon after finding what she thinks is a new beginning, fate or perhaps the gods themselves take her elsewhere. Her true beginning is not what she expects and it just may be more than she can handle.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note- Just so everyone knows that I've decided to begin the story of this character a little differently than the game does it. I've had this idea for a long time and have decided to finally post this story! To warn you all, I do get very busy but I work on the chapters as much as I can every day so I will post them as quick as I can and I will try to make them worth the wait! ^^. **

**Warning-This story will have cursing in it and probably smut =_=**

If anyone has any advice on my grammar I really appreciate it!

I hope you guys enjoy this story! I enjoy righting it! c:

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In the village of Rorikstead lived a young girl who longed for adventure. She grew up in the small village with Erik, in fact they've been friends since childhood. Often growing up they would run off far from the village on some imaginative adventure.

They would spend hours laying in the fields looking at the clouds or would spy on the giants making up stories of their own about them. Every day they would dream about life outside the village and what wonders the world had. Sadly, neither of their parents would allow it, for fear that they're children would not return.

One day when they were just children, a strange lot came to the village, people she nor Erik had ever heard of. The Companions. They were a group of warriors that helped people and explored all over Skyrim. The very thought of such a life made them blush with delight.

The two Companions that came were an older man and a young boy who looked their age. It seemed strange to them that such a young boy could be part of a group like that but it also seemed exciting! If he could be an adventure that young why couldn't they when they grew up!?

"Come on Erik, don't be such a baby!?" She waved her arms in the air as she shouted at her friend. "I just don't think it's a good idea…What are they even doing?" He asked while looking at his feet slightly afraid. "I heard my dad talking to my mom about it. Apparently, they're here to take care of a bandit problem." She replied with an excited smile on her face.

"Bandits!?" Erik exclaimed even more worried while he quickly looked up at her with wide eyes. "Don't be such a baby!" She yelled again placing her hands on her hips. For such a young girl, she had a big attitude. "I'm not being a baby, I'm being practical! It's stupid to want to follow them to such a dangerous place while they're doing a dangerous thing! Like fighting bandits!" Erik yelled right back at her as he crossed his arms stubbornly.

She rolled her eyes in response. "It's not like we're going to be fighting with them. We're just going to…watch." She shrugged with a smile. "You mean YOU'RE going to watch! Leave me out of it." With that said, Erik quickly turned on his heels and walked away. She frowned at him as he walked away and stuck her tongue out right at him. "Big baby…And he wants to be an adventurer…" She mumbled to herself as she started to walk down the path.

The two Companions left just a bit ago before she dragged Erik to the path they took. Now she walks down the same path eager to see them in action but also afraid. She knew of the cave that her parents spoke of that the bandits were hiding out in, so she didn't have a problem getting there.

Nope, it wasn't a problem getting there but it was a problem going in. When she finally arrived at the cave she just stood in front of it staring at the entrance. She bit her lip as she examined the inside of it. She could only see so far in it before it got dark and as she stared into the darkness her mind swirled with terrifying thoughts of scary creatures.

She tapped her fingers on her dress rapidly as she was arguing with herself on whether to go in or not. If you don't do this than you'll have to deal with Erik's "I told you so". She frowned at the thought of that and with out any more hesitation went right inside. This isn't so bad… She tried telling herself, but it wasn't working.

As she went deeper into the cave her stomach hurt from the fear. She tried controlling her breathing to calm herself down but it wasn't working. "Hey who are you!?" She jumped at the sudden loud voice but quickly realized that it wasn't directed towards her. It came deeper from the cave and obviously from a bandit. A small smile, full of excitement appeared on her face as she took off towards the end of the cave.

The first one she saw come into view was the young boy. She quickly hid behind a large rock and peeked out to get a good few. Just a bit in front of him was the older man, she examined them both close. The older man's hair was a brown that was beginning to gray along with a beard to match it and the young boy had medium dark brown hair and icy blue eyes. He wore armor that showed off his muscles, as she examined him she couldn't help but blush.

"Who do you think we are?" The older man replied to the bandit with a smile on his face. The bandit looked slightly taken back and looked to the other bandits for answers. "It doesn't matter who they are! Kill them!" One yelled quickly unsheathing a sword.

She quickly gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, watching with wide eyes. She quickly counted the bandits. There are more of the bandits than them and that scared her. They're going to kill them! She covered her mouth with both hands to hide another gasp.

Though she was terrified, the two Companions looked nothing of the sort. In fact, they looked amused with the bandits. She watched them exchange grins and quickly pull out swords of their own. "You can certainly try!" The young boy yelled, showing such bravery. She couldn't help but blush again as she watched them both.

With out another word the bandits quickly charged right at the two Companions and without hesitation, they both met their attackers with equal determination. She watched with wide and amazed eyes as they both fought with such agility and grace. She still couldn't believe a boy, who was her age, could do all of this.

She hugged the rock tightly as she watched more closely, there was no way the bandits had a chance of winning this fight and she couldn't wait to see them defeated. She wondered what they were going to do with the bandits after they defeated them. That question was quickly answered when the young boy's sword went right through a bandit causing blood to splatter everywhere. She gasped and quickly turned covering her eyes. They weren't just going to stop the bandits, they were going to kill them!

She kept her hands over her eyes and rocked back and forth trying to tune out the sounds of swords piercing flesh, but it wasn't working. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get that image out of her head…All that blood.

"Look out!" She heard the older man yell. A bandit was heading right for the young boy but the boy was faster than the bandit. Right when the bandit lunged at him with his sword drawn the boy quickly spun out of the way making the bandit stumble and fall.

When the bandit fell, he landed right next to her. She gasped quickly looking at him with frightened eyes. The bandit looked up her just as surprised but then looked at her with an idea. She tried getting away but she just wasn't fast enough. The bandit quickly grabbed her arm pulling her from behind the rock and held a blade to her throat.

The two Companions quickly stopped in their tracks and looked at them with shocked but also worried eyes. "Not a step closer or the girl dies!" The bandit yelled making them both stiffen up. The moment he had said that tears began to fall from her eyes. She looked around the cave and saw all the other bandits were killed, all but him.

"Lay down your weapons, nice and easy." The bandit commanded. The two Companions exchanged glances and did what they were told. Her bottom lip started to tremble with fear, she bit it trying to stop, but she just couldn't.

"Hey, look at me." The young boy spoke softly getting her attention. "You're going to be okay." His voice is calm and his smile is sweet. The tears stop and suddenly, she feels okay. She sniffed and then nodded. "Hey! Keep your eyes on me!" Yelled the bandit. The boy glared at him. The bandit began to walk backwards slowly forcing her to walk with him.

"I'm leaving here and if either of you follow me I'll-" He takes a bad step back and ends up loosing his footing causing him to stumble. She sees the opportunity and elbows him in the gut hard, forcing him to let up the sword a little. It's enough for her to duck under and run to the two companions.

In a split second the older man grabs his sword and charges for the bandit before he can regain himself. The boy takes her by the hand and moves her behind him just in case the bandit gets past the older companion. She presses herself up against the boys back and hides her face in him. It's strange when she does though, because even though he just got done fighting, he smelt good.

The two companions walked her back to the village. Even though she knew that the bandits were gone she still held onto the boys hand and stayed close. He didn't mind, he knew she had just been through a lot all of a sudden.

"There you are!" She jumps from the familiar voice. She looks seeing her pregnant mother running towards her. She looked worried but she also looked angry, behind her was her father. She quickly looked down trying to avoid their eyes. "What's the matter with you!" Her mother bent down and quickly took her by the wrist making the young companion let go of her.

"You are in big trouble young lady!" Now her father was there. She looked up at them both not sure what to say. She then looks past them and sees Erik in the background. He's looking down ashamed with his father next to him. She quickly glared at him forcing him to wince and keep his eyes away. "What got it in your head to do something like this!?" Her mother kneels in front of her and forces her to look her in the eyes.

"I just..." She started but stopped because she could feel her throat tighten. _No...don't cry...not in front of them..._ She bit her lip and cleared her throat. "I just wanted to see." Her voice was shaky but she didn't cry. "You could've been hurt! Or worse!" Her mother yelled making her wince. She slightly looked to the side and saw the older companion nudge the younger one. The boy took one last look at her and then walked away with the older companion.

Before the two companions could walk away completely her father thanked them for keeping her safe. They both just smiled at him and nodded, then went back on their way. "Come on, we're going home!" Her mother stood up straight and charged off still holding on to her wrist tightly so that she would walk with her. They both passed Erik and when they did she gave him one nasty glare.

She was forced to go to bed without dinner as punishment and the hours seemed to crawl by. They took her books away, forcing her to just sit in there with her thoughts. It was dark out now and she knew she needed to go to sleep but she just couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened today, it was terrifying yet exciting! It only made her dream about her futur more.

A small tap to her window knocked her out of her day dreaming. She sat up and looked at her window waiting. Another tap made her jump, someone was there. She walked over to the window, scooting a chair to it. She got on the chair and then opened the window, when she saw who it was a mean glare formed on her face. "What do you want?" There was venom in her voice.

"I wanted to explain." Erik said as he looked down at the ground and dug into the soil with his shoe. "I don't want to hear it." She quickly looked away from him. "Just give me a chance." He begged while looking back up at her. She sighed and carefully climbed out of her window, she landed flat on her feet.

Erik took her to their usual spot that they always sneak off to. It was about a mile away from the village and it was just a simple large stone that sat next to a stream. They both were sitting on top of it while watching small fish swim by. "I'm sorry." He finally spoke. "You should be." She turned her head away. "I was just worried about you." He looked down at his hands on his lap.

"I was fine." She replied keeping her eyes away from him. "But I didn't know that..." His voice became quiet. "I just didn't want anything to happen to you..." He looked away and down at the ground. He watched a small blue flower move with the breeze. She let out a small sigh and then rested her head on his shoulder making him slightly jump but soon after, he relaxes.

"You were right about it being dangerous." She admitted and that made him smile. "If those companions weren't there, I'd probably be dead." That made Erik stiffen up. The thought of it made his heart drop. "I told you so." He whispered. There it was. She knew he would say that but at the moment, she didn't care. Even though she was here with her best friend she still couldn't stop thinking about it. She wondered what her futur truly held.


	2. Chapter 2

Today marks ten years since her encounter with the two Companions and she still thinks about it to this day. She was now a well grown young woman and her best friend Erik was now a well grown young man. He worked in the farms of their village while she worked at his fathers Inn as a waitress.

Adventurers would often stop by and usually were pleased to share their stories. Also, the fact that she was a fair looking waitress helped. All she would have to do was bat her eyelashes and then they were locked.

It would often make Erik mad that she did that but she knew he was just jealous. A couple of days ago, two Redguard warriors stopped into town and rented out two nice rooms for a couple of months. She immediately caught their eye when she walked by with her swaying hips and long deep red hair.

They would often call her over for more drinks when most of the time their mugs or bottles were still full. "You know." One of them started to speak but paused to take a quick drink of his mead. "You're eyes remind me of the gem emerald, especially by the way they sparkle." He puts his mug down and gives her a cheesy and obvious drunk smile.

She only giggled and smiled back while passing them with a tray full of empty cups. Erik scoffed from his seat at the bar and his dad couldn't help but chuckle as he was cleaning out a mug with a rag. "Why are they even here..." Erik said while frowning down at his half empty mug. "I think they said they were looking for someone." She answered him while handing his dad the tray full of empty cups.

"I wish they would leave." Erik murmered to himself. "Now now my boy." His dad cut in with another chuckle. "They have interesting stories you know. You should ask them about some of them." She leaned forward on the counter next to Erik. "It seems like they're only interested in sharing them with you and I bet that's not the only thing their willing to share..." Erik looked away annoyed.

She scoffed at him while giving him a quick hit to the arm. "What was that for?" He grabbed his arm while looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Stop being so jealous." She couldn't help but smile with a small blush appearing on her cheeks. "Jealous?" Erik kept his eyebrows furrowed. "I've got nothing to be jealous about." He quickly looks away from her.

She scoffed at him again. "Fine, if you're just going to be grumpy then I'll go talk to my new friends. They seem to be better company these days..." She mumbled that last part while walking away from the bar. Erik quickly turned to watch her. His dad let out a sigh and shook his head as he continued to clean the empty cups.

"So tell me." She leaned over the table with her elbows on it and her chin resting in her hands. The warriors both straightened up while looking to her. "Why stay here? I'm sure Whiterun would be a better place, it is the capital of the hold after all." She pointed out while looking to the empty bottles on their table.

One of the warriors scoffed and looked away. "We've tried." He said. "But the guards won't let us in." "Why not?" She asked. "They don't trust us." The other answered. "Interesting..." She couldn't help but smile with interest. "So...did you run into anyone known as the Companions while you were in Whiterun?" She quietly asked while making a circle motion on the table with her pointer finger.

"No, they didn't let us get past the gate." One of the warriors sighed. "Oh." She sighed as well. She sat up and gathered the empty bottles on the table. "If you need anything else, just let me know." She gave them both a charming smile and then walked back over to the counter with the several empty bottles gathered in her arms.

"You can go a head and take off for the night." Erik's dad gave her a nod. "You sure?" She asked. "I'm sure, go on." He motioned his head towards the door. "Well alright." She replied as she untied her apron. "I'll see you in the morning." She gave him and Erik both a smile but Erik just kept looking away from her.

She ignored it and did as his dad wanted. She left for the evening. The cold fresh air outside of the Inn was a welcome feeling. Erik's dad took good care of his Inn but vomit and mead stains, as does it smell. She looked up at the sky seeing that the sun was just about to set. She stood their on the porch of the Inn watching the sun slowly lower past the mountains. Her mind started to wonder what exactly was past those mountains. Adventure? Danger? Love? Only those who have the freedom to travel past the mountains would know.

She let out a quiet sigh as she looked away from the sky and started to walk down the wooden steps. "Big sister!" She stopped after stepping down from the bottom step and straightened up when hearing a familiar small voice. "Big sister!" She looks to the road towards her home and running towards her was one of her younger sisters with tears in her eyes.

She couldn't help but smile as she kneels down to meet eye contact with her little sister when she reached her. "Britte is being mean to me again!" She cried while pointing behind her. She looks up in the distance she can see the twin of her little sister, standing with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. "Britte, come here." She calls to her little sister with a stern voice.

Britte let out an angry sigh while stomping her feet over. "Were you being mean to Sissel?" She asks raising both eyebrows. "No! All I did was give her a punch to the arm!" Britte throws her arms in the air trying to defend herself. "It wasn't on my arm! It was on my face!" Sissel yells at her with more tears streaming down her face. "Oh don't be such a baby!" Britte quickly turns her whole body away from them while crossing her arms like a stubborn child. "See!" Sissel turns to her big sister as she points to Britte.

She let's out a sigh while wiping tears away from Sissel's eyes. "You two have got to start getting along." She started to scold them both. "How, when she's a big baby!" Britte turns back around to give her twin sister a mean glare. "Hey!" Their older sister points a finger at Britte making that glare on her face quickly disappear.

"Come here." She holds an arm out towards Britte. Britte lets out a sigh while slowly walking over to her. Their older sister places a hand on both of their shoulders and gives them both a kind smile. "If you two don't start getting a long, you'll regret it one day." She started to explain. They both tilted their head, confused by what she meant. "One day it's just going to be the two of you and you'll end up being nothing but a stranger to each other. I know that probably doesn't make sense to you now, but when you're older, I hope you'll understand those words my loves." She brought them both into a hug and when they both hugged her back she couldn't help but smile.

"You said it's just going to be us one day." Sissel spoke softly, keeping her arms around her older sister. "Does that mean you and Daddy are going to leave us?" She asks in a softer voice. Her smile quickly disappeared, realizing what she said didn't sound too good. "That's not what I mean." She pulls away from her sisters so she can look at them both. "I just mean that someday you're not going to rely on me and Dad much anymore and you might need to rely on each other." She gave them another smile.

"That doesn't sound any better." Britte pointed out with a bratty tone to her voice. She then sighed giving up while bowing her head forward a bit. "Come on." Their older sister stands up straight and turns them both around to walk towards their home. "Let's go home, I'll make us some dinner." She said while walking with them in front of her. "Oh finally! I'm starving!" Britte quickly takes off down the road. "Wait!" Sissel runs after her like she always does. She can't help but smile as she watches them run towards their small farm house.

When she walks in behind her little sisters a familiar heat from their small fire place brings a warm feeling to her heart. Though her home was often empty, when the fire was lit, it always made things feel better. The first thing she sees is their father, Lemkil, sitting in the chair closest to the fire place with a mug in his hand. He slightly turns his head towards his oldest daughter, looking at her with half closed, drunken eyes. "You're home early." He points out then takes another swig of his mead.

"Mralki let me off early tonight." She replied to him with the usual smile she gives him. Before completely walking past him she stops to give him a quick kiss on his bald head. "Are you hungry Father? I'm going to start dinner." She said while walking over to their food stores. "No." Her father waves a drunk hand towards her. "I'll just get something to eat at the Inn." He slowly stands from his chair, using the back of it as support.

She stops and clenches the sides of her dress in her fists while keeping her back turned to her father. "Oh? Again?" She slightly turns her head to him but doesn't look at him, instead she looks to the floor. "Don't pester me about this again girl!" He snaps at her, making her wince as if he had just threw a dagger at her. He stumbles over to the door but stops and stares down at the floor a bit before walking out. He looks up at her and can tell by her posture, that she was upset. "Don't worry." He speaks in a gentler voice now. "I won't be late again tonight, so don't worry about me." With that said, he leaves. ' _Liar'_

She spends thirty-minutes going through every food crate and basket they have and all she can find is a couple of cabbages, leeks and left over salted meat. She lets out a sigh while gathering up all she can in her arms. _'I'm going to have to go to the market in Whiterun tomorrow...'_ She thinks to herself while putting everything down on the table.

She stands there for a moment staring down at the food while fiddling with a necklace she always wore. It was a silver necklace with an emerald in the middle of it. It belonged to her mother and it was given to her by her mother just before she died.

Ever since her mother died giving birth to the twins, nothing's been the same. Nothing's gotten better. She had to care for the twins when they were babes while her father worked at the farms during the day and spend his evenings drinking at the Inn. She had to cook, clean, and shop for their family. Everything a mother had to do, and it was slowly killing her on the inside.

She loved her sisters dearly and wished nothing bad to happen to them, but this was not the life she wanted. She had hoped by now she was wondering the roads of Skyrim, exploring every ruin or cave she came across. She also hoped that Erik would be by her side in doing that, but of course, no one really gets what they want.

At night, she finds herself so overwhelmed from the stress of that day, that she ends up crying herself to sleep. No one knows this, not even Erik. She would never tell anyone. It was her burden to bare, and her way of just letting it out. She let's out a deep sigh while holding the jeweled part of the necklace tight in her hand. She missed her mother dearly and it saddened her that her sisters will never know her.

"So what are we having." Sissel's voice makes her jump, nearly knocking everything off the table. "Oh I'm sorry big sister!" Sissel quickly apologizes while being on the brink of tears. She quickly looks to Sissel and gives her a smile. "It's okay, I just got lost in thought is all." She placed a comforting hand on her head and then got back to making dinner. "I think I'm going to cook some vegetable stew with this left over meat we have." She says with a smile. "Does that sound good to you?" She turns to Sissel with a smile. Sissel replies with a nod and her own big smile.

"Can I help you cut the vegetable?" She asks eagerly. "Well of course you can!" Her older sister replies with an eager answer. "If she gets to help, then I wanna help to!" Britte came running up to the table. "You both can help, just let me get the cutting board and knives." She caressed both of their cheeks with both hands and then walked off to get what she needed.

It takes little over an hour for dinner to finish and now all three of them were sitting at the table enjoying their stew with some slightly stale bread. "Is Daddy going to eat with us tonight?" Sissel asks with hopeful eyes. She asks that every night and every night it adds a new cut to her heart. "No love, he's going to eat at the Inn tonight." She answers as positively as she can but she knew no one was buying it. "You mean he's going to get drunk at the Inn tonight." Britte mumbles while toying with the cabbage in her stew with a fork.

She quickly shoots a glare at Britte but she ignores her and continues to pick at her food. "You know who I would really enjoy having over for dinner?" Sissel changes the subject while kicking her feet back and forth. "Who's that?" Her older sister asks with a curious smile. "Erik." She giggles with a small blush forming. "I bet our big sister would like it too." Britte points her fork at their older sister while her and Sissel both giggle together. "Oh, knock it off you two." She can't help but giggle along with them. It was moments like these she truley enjoyed. They didn't get a whole lot of them.

After they were finished with their dinner she immediately got both of her sisters ready for bed. Sissel liked wearing a long white night gown while Britte just liked wearing one of her older sisters shirts. It draped over her little body like a gown would so she didn't mind it. She didn't wear that shirt much anyways. Sissel always likes her hair to be braided so that when she wakes up it has a wave to it and Britte doesn't much care about it but her older sister goes a head and puts it in a tight bun so that she won't have a skeevers nest for hair in the morning.

After all that, she then makes them wash their faces and clean their ears. Then after fighting them about that its finally time for bed, but before giving in to bed time they like making their big sister tell them a story. She dims the lantern in their room where the only light was from the moon through their small window. She drags a wooden chair to sit in front of both of their beds and then takes her seat.

"Listen close now, my sister's." She speaks slowly and quietly while folding her hands together in her lap. "This story isn't for the faintest of hearts." She begins while tilting her head up and closing her eyes. "Before I begin I need to know if you are truley ready for this because once I start, the spirits won't let me finish." She then opens her eyes trying to give her sisters the best serious face she can. "Spirits!?" Sissel holds her blankets close while Britte just rolls her eyes.

"Yes spirits!" She jumps from her chair and approaches Sissel's bed slowly and creepily. "They demand that I tell their story or they'll haunt our home forever!" She raises her arms in the air and wiggles her fingers. "Then do it but do it quickly!" It doesn't take long for Sissel to hide under her covers and shake from fear. "Oh please! You're not really believing her are you?" Britte crossed her arms while looking over at her twin hiding under the covers.

"But it is true young bratty one!" Now she was over at Britte's bed, hovering over her trying to frighten her a little. Britte furrowed her eyebrows at the word bratty but her older sister ignored it while walking back over to her chair and taking a seat. "This is a story that took place in this very town years ago." She starts folding her hands back in her lap and closing her eyes once more.

"And now with their story told, the spirits of this town can finally rest." She makes herself let out a relieved sigh to make her sisters believe the story more, and it seemed to have worked. Sissel was sitting up with wide eyes and even Britte looked a little freaked but also relieved at the end. "You...you sure?" Sissel asks slightly frightened. "Positive." She nods and then smiles when she hears a small sigh come from Britte.

"Now, it's time to go to sleep." She stands from her chair and walks over to the lantern. While her sisters snuggle down in their blankets she blows into the lantern making the fire go out. She walks over to Sissel first, placing a warm kiss on their forehead and then over to Britte. Britte always rolls over quickly so she can't kiss her forehead but she'll hold her down to at least give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight my loves and sweet dreams." With that said she leaves their room and shuts the door. She let's out a small sigh while starting to clean the table up from their dinner.

It doesn't take her long to get the wooden bowls they used clean. All she had to do was dip a rag in water and wash the remaining food out then it was time to wash the table off. She always just wiped what food was on the table to the floor and then swept it up with their broom. She was always pretty fast when it came to cleaning, it was probably because of all the practice she's had over the years.

With the twins in bed and the house finally cleaned up, she could now take a breather. Which was normally outside, with Erik. Every evening they would meet in their usual spot near the small stream, they've done this since they were kids but tonight she wasn't sure he would come. He didn't seem too happy with her when she left the Inn but she was going to go a head and go just in case he did show up.

When she leaves the stone road, she has to take big steps and small leaps to avoid mud puddles and soggy grass. It had just rained the other day so the ground was very muddy and she hated that. It was hard to get mud out of cloth.

It doesn't take her long to reach the rock next to the stream and like she thought, Erik wasn't there. "Maybe he'll show up in a bit." She says to herself while taking a seat on top of the large stone. She let's out a sigh as she leans forward to look down at the small stream. The light from the moon lit it up and made it glimmer.

She saw a few fish swim around in circles trying to catch small bugs in the water. She watched them with a small smile on her face. She started to wonder off in her mind again and this time it went to the waters. She started to wonder what the bigger waters of Skyrim would hold, what kind of fish or perhaps sea monster be swimming in those endless waters? Then her mind started to wonder past Skyrim, now she was thinking of all Tameriel.

She had to force herself to snap out of it. It always made her heart sink when she thought too much about those things. The thought of it all was exciting but the reality of it all, was sad. She let out a soft sigh while wrapping her arms around herself. The cold night was starting to get to her and she soon found herself shivering.

Just when she was about to give up and go home she feels a thick, warm over shirt get draped over her shoulders. She looks up and smiles when she sees Erik walk around her to take his spot next to her on the stone. "I'm surprised you came tonight." She said, looking back down at the stream. "Why? I come every night." He replies while settling down onto the rock.

"Well, you didn't seem too happy with me tonight when I left." She pointed out, keeping her eyes down on the stream. "I wasn't mad at you." Erik says with a small sigh. "I'm just tired of all the looks you get from outsiders. Especially those Redguard fellows." She wasn't look at him but by the tone of his voice she could tell he was sneering to himself.

She can't help but chuckle. She finally looks up at him with a smile. "Look at you, being all worried about me." She nudges him soflty with her shoulder. Erik only looks away more while rubbing the back of his neck. "Any proper man would be worried about a lady..." He mumbled. "Sure, sure." She sarcastically agrees with him. She then relaxes against him while laying her head on his shoulder.

He tensed up at first but then relaxed, allowing her to remain. She didn't know why he still acted nervous about it, she's always rested against him since they were kids and it seemed like he would get more and more nervous about it each time. "How are your sisters?" He breaks the silence.

"Bratty and winey, so the usual." She replies. He can't help but chuckle. "Saw your dad in the Inn again tonight." Erik said while shifting around a bit to get more comfortable. "I know..." She replies softly. Erik tenses up again, sensing her sadness. She lets out a loud sigh while sitting up straight and stretching her arms out in front of her. "I have to go to Whiterun tomorrow." She changes the subject.

"Why's that?" Erik turns his whole body so he can look at her fully. "We're low on supplies like meat and veggies." She explains. "You can just get your vegetables from here though." Erik furrows his eyebrows a bit at her. "I know but I still need meat and Whiterun's the closest city to get them. Plus the Woodelf brothers usually give me a discount." She can't help but give Erik a small grin and he just rolls his eyes. "Of course they do..." He mumbles while grabbing a nearby stick to draw in the dirt with it.

"Erik, I really do think it would be best for everyone if you would just admit that you're in love with me." She shrugs while keeping a smirk hidden. Erik scoffs at her while throwing the stick away. "Please!" He then stands up from the rock and rubs his lower back. "Being in love with you would be like being in love with my sister." He now rubs his left shoulder with his hand, keeping his face from hers.

She scoffs at him. She can't help but feel offended and disappointed. She quickly gets up from the rock and gives Erik back his over-shirt. "I need to get up early tomorrow, so I'll be heading back now." Without giving Erik a second look, she quickly turns herself away from him and begins to walk back to the village. While she walks away, Erik remains in the same spot with a hand to his forehead as he quietly curses himself for being such an idiot.

As she walks back to the village, she feels this empty pit forming in her heart. _"Being in love with you would be like being in love with my sister."_ Could he truly mean that? Or maybe he only said that to hide is own embarrassment and true feelings? ' _Whatever.'_ She thinks to herself. ' _I don't care.'_

The next morning came rather quickly and she's up early, ready for the road. She ties a pack to her back and leaves a note for her sisters on their side table, letting them know where their breakfast is and where she has gone. She tries to wake her father to let him know where she is going, but all she can get are a few grumbles and a wave from his hand.

She walks outside and is first greeted by Skyrim's chilly morning air. She lets out a small shiver as she rolls the long sleeves of her dress down. She then takes a hair tie out of her small pouch, and ties her hair up into a large bun while leaving a few strands of hair sticking out. She walks down the steps of her porch, and ahead across from her home, she sees Erik working in the field. ' _He's up early.'_

She's hesitates to approach him but after a moments thought she finds herself walking over to him. She doesn't go into the field, she just stands outside the wooden fence, waiting for him to notice her. To her delight, it doesn't take him long to sense her presence and turn his head to her.

"Heading out?" He asks. She nods in response and then slightly looks down at the ground. She didn't like how she left upset last night. She knew he probably didn't notice though, but still, it bothered her. She looks back at him and surprises him a bit with a smile. "You want to come with me?" She asks keeping the smile on her face.

The invite really surprised him. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and stood there for a moment thinking about it. It almost looked like he wanted to but then he let out a sigh while rubbing the back of his neck. "I would but it's harvest and they need me here." He actually sounded disappointed and for some reason that made her feel better. "Oh, is that why you're up so early?" She takes a look around at the field. "Uh..yeah..." He clears his throat while quickly looking away from her.

She raises an eyebrow at him as another smile forms on her face. It would appear that he actually woke up early to see her off but he would never admit it. Now she really did feel better and the warm feeling she got in her heart every time they spoke, returned. She lets out a small, happy sigh. "Well, I'll let you get back to it then. The sooner I leave the sooner I get back anyways." She turns her back to him and walks back to the road.

Whiterun is a long walk from Rorikstead. When she finally reaches the city's gate it is early afternoon with the sun high in the sky as proof. It was normally cold on any day in Skyrim but when one walks as far as she just did, one tends to build up a sweat. She can hear the chatter from the busy crowds inside the city outside the gate. She waits patiently while the guards push the gates open.

When she walks by them she gives them both a nod in thanks and as soon as she does they both puff out their chests trying to impress. But they were impressing no body. The guards were usually annoying. She can't help but smile when the familiar streets of the city come to view. She liked Whiterun, she felt at home here though she had no home to call her own behind the large stone walls. _'Maybe someday.'_ She always tells herself.

The blacksmith gives her the usual nod when she passes, mostly out of politeness and that she recognized her. It takes her no time at all to find the large market place and like always it was full of shoppers and wanderers, both supplying themselves for either home or the road. She stops just before walking into the large opening of the marketplace to look up at the large palace that stood above all the city.

Dragonsreach is what it was called and she always wondered what could be in those halls. She's heard great things about the Jarl and she couldn't help but wonder what he truly was like, she's heard that he was handsome and a great warrior.

She takes her eyes from the large structure and looks over to the stand where Anoriath -a Wood Elf- sold meat that he and his brother caught in the wilds just outside Whiterun. She smiled as she approached his stand. When he looked up and saw her, he returned the smile. "Hello there my friend!" His smile increases as he leans on his stand, towards her. "Hello Anoriath." She gave him a small wave while looking at the meat he had displayed.

"You here to pick up the usual today?" He asks, keeping his cheerful tune. "I am but I'm also considering adding something different to the order." She replies while sticking a finger on her chin as she keeps looking. "Oh? Spicing things up are we?" He smirks while leaning his face on his fist with his elbow resting on the wooden surface of the stand.

"Just a little." She can't help but give him a small wink along with a smile. Anoriath quickly clears his throat as he stands back up straight. "Think he'll be pleased?" She hears an unfamiliar deep voice from behind her. "I don't know, I bet the only think he'll be pleased about is that it got done." Another unfamiliar deep voice replies.

She can't help but ease drop a bit. "He won't be pleased because it's expected of us to complete our jobs you ice brains, otherwise we wouldn't be the Companions." Now it was a female voice. She freezes, unable to move and barely breath. Her eyes widen and she can feel her heart pounding hard in her chest from excitement.

She can hear the scraping on the stone ground from their boots as they walk and she can feel their presence from behind when they pass by her. _The Companions..._ She shuts her eyes tightly she slowly turns her head. She then opens her eyes and walking up the stone set of stairs, were three warriors.

At the top was a woman with long red hair and armor that fit her body perfectly, strapped on her back was an Elven bow with steal arrows. The one behind her was a tall man with medium length hair and armor made of steel that shined in the sunlight, on the shoulders of his armor looked like carvings of wolves and strapped to his back was a large, steel, great sword. The last one to walk up the steps was another man, though he was shorter than the other one, he was more muscular with longer thick hair. On him was a normal set of steel armor but it looked like it was made to show off his size and muscles. On his back was also a large, steel, great sword just like the mans a head of him.

The one a head of the last man turned to speak but stopped, feeling someones eyes on him. He looks up and makes eye contact with her. She can now fully see his strong,firm jaw line and the dark stubble that decorated the lower half of his face. She can see around his icey blue eyes were dark markings, showing he was a warrior.

Once she realized that he caught her staring at him, she tensed up and quickly turned her whole body away from him acting like it was an accident. "Hey, what's the hold up?" She can hear the woman call to the two guys. She then hears hurried footsteps going up the stairs and then they slowly fade away as they get farther away.

She can feel her face heat up and her heart beat against her chest. She places a hand on her chest trying to calm her excited heart but nothing could stop it. She had just seen the mightiest of warriors, the ones she's always wanted to be. "Still stuck on the Companions huh?" Anoriath's voice knocks her out of it. She turns to him with a face still flushed red. She only nods in response, she can't seem to find her voice.

Anoriath can't help but smile as he gets her usual order ready. "You said you wanted to get something a little different this time?" He asked looking up at her with raised eyebrows. "Oh, oh yes." She sighs while slowly turning back around and lowering her hand from her chest. "Uhm..." She clears her throat as she looks down at his meat options. "Add salmon to my order, Anoriath." She told him while pointing to a few slices. "Gotcha." He carefully grabs the salmon meat and wraps it up in paper to preserve it.

She lets out another sigh while moving her eyes down to the ground. _I can't believe I just locked eyes with one of the Companions!_ She can't help but smile to herself as she feels her face flush red all over again. It was only a quick glance her way but it was still exciting! "There you go." His voice knocks her out of it again. She quickly looks up and sees him holding out a basket full of meat towards her. "Oh, oh thank you Anoriath!" She gives him a smile while getting out a coin purse.

She places the coin purse on his stand and then carefully takes the heavy basket from him. "You know..." He begins as he picks up the coin purse. She looks at him, interested in what he has to say. "I hear the Companions are looking for new recruits." He then leans forward on his stand, giving her a smile. Her eyes widen. "Really?! How do you know!?" She asks with a voice filled of excitement.

"I'm a merchant, I hear things." He shrugs a little. "You should go and try to join." He nudges his head in the direction of Jorrvaskr. "Oh I...I don't know." She turns away from him, holding the basket down with both hands as she looks over to the steps that the three warriors just walked up. "Why not?" Anoriath slightly tilts his head. "I don't have any training in any type of combat. I also don't have any armor and I don't know how to use any weapon besides a knife, if you even consider that a weapon." She looks down at the ground with a frown on her face.

"The Companions train people to be warriors though, I don't see why they wouldn't take you in to train you." He speaks confidentially to her, trying to give her at least a spark of hope. She looks down at the ground for a moment longer and then looks back up at him. "You think so?" The corners of her mouth slightly curve into a small, hopeful smile. "I do." He nods while standing up straight. "I think you'd make a great warrior, my friend."

She looks back to the stone stairs while biting her lower lip, trying to contain her excited smile. "I'll have to." She quickly looks away from the stairs and him to face towards the gate. "I'll have to think about it." By the sound of her voice Anoriath could tell her decision already, but he knew something was holding her back. "I better get going." She looks back at him with a smile. "Thanks for the meat, Anoriath." She gives him a small wave and then starts to walk down the stony street to leave the city.

When she reaches Rorikstead the afternoon is long gone and the sun was now near the peaks of the mountains. "Just in time to make dinner." She softly speaks to herself while walking into her home. When she opened the front door she was surprised to see her two sisters working together on cleaning the house. "Sissel, Britte?" She raises an eyebrow up at them while standing in the doorway.

Sissel had a broom in her hand and Britte had a duster in hers. They both looked over to her and smiled. "Surprise!" They both exclaimed happily while throwing their arms in the air. "What's this?" She chuckles a bit while walking in and shutting the door behind her. "We wanted to clean for you today." Sissel started to explain while running over to her older sister. "You always do everything, so we decided to take over some of the chores." Britte walked over to her and spoke in her usual rough voice but her older sister knew she meant well.

"Wow that's...very grown up of you guys." She kneels down taking them both in her arms. "It was my idea." Their father steps out from one of the rooms with his own broom in hand. He was home and sober. Now that was a big surprise. "It...it was?" She stands up, completely in shock.

"I knew you had to go to Whiterun to get some supplies, so I decided to make your day easier." He clears his throat while he put the broom away. She just stands there with her eyebrows raised, still in shock. "Oh alright!" He starts to admit as he turns around to face her. "I felt bad about last night and I guess...All of the nights." He rubs the back of his head. "Ever since..." He stops, shutting his eyes and preparing himself to talk about her.

"Ever since your mother died, I know you've taken over her roll and taken care of us. I've been thinking about it lately and decided." He now looks back up at her. "I've decided to be around more to ease some of the duties off of you." He sighs finally finishing. A smile forms on her face as does tears in her eyes. Not only has she seen the mighty Companions today but she's also finally seeing her father again. The father she knew before her mother died.

Perhaps today is the day for her to make her dream a reality. Maybe her father stepping up and her sisters growing up, are all signs from the gods that it's finally time. _No, don't think about that now, just get dinner ready and take it step by step._ She shuts her eyes making her tears go away and then opens them back, giving her family a big smile.

"Well then, while you all finish up cleaning I shall get dinner ready!" She speaks gleefully while basically skipping by them with the basket full of meat. "Oooh what did you get today?" Sissel runs over to her eagerly. "I got all sorts of goodies." She puts the basket down next to their food stores to put away all the meat. "We now have, venison, rabbit, chicken, pheasant, and salmon." She says while taking them all out. "Salmon?" Her father furrowed his eyebrows down while walking over. "That's different." He rubs his beard. "Does that mean you want salmon for dinner?" She asks as she looks up at him with a smile.

"Ooh yeah!" Sissel answers for him. "Daddy brought some fresh vedgies from the field including leeks. Let's have salmon and grilled leeks for dinner!" Sissel asks with an excited voice. Britte doesn't say anything but her older sister can tell she wants that as well by the look on her face. "Alright then, I'll get started." She smiles as she gathers up the ingredients.

It takes her longer than usual to get dinner done but only because of her father. He insisted on helping her no matter how many times she told him she didn't need help. "Damn it girl! I can do it!" Is what he often said while making dinner. But when dinner is finally done, they all sit at the table and enjoy the meal. It's the first time they've all had dinner together in a long time.

"Now that Daddy is here for dinner we can invite Erik sometime." Sissel giggles with a mouth full of leek. "Oh here we go again." Britte rolls her eyes. "Erik eh?" Their father leans forward on the table. "You going to marry him, my dear?" He asks with a small smile. Sissel shakes her head with a sigh. "No I can't because big sister is going to marry Erik." She points her fork at her older sister.

"Yeah, I don't see that happening." She chuckles while moving leeks around her plate with her fork. "Why not?" Her father leans back in his chair with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. She looks up at him a bit surprised. "I think Erik would make a fine husband for you. He's a good boy." Her father nodded before taking a drink of his mead. "Well you know me Father, I'm never going to get married." She chuckles a little uncomfortably.

"Well, if you ever do decide to settle down, I think Erik would be the one to do it with. He'll stand by you and support you no matter what. I can see it." He says with a mouthful of salmon now. She only gives him another uncomfortable chuckle while staring down at her half eaten plate. ' _Stand by me and support me, huh?'_ She could only hope.

After dinner she does her usual thing which is get her sisters ready for bed and tell them a story. This time she decided to tell them a love story which puts them right to sleep. Before that, their father decided to go to the Inn for a bit but not after making sure it was alright with his eldest daughter for a whole ten minutes. She ended up having to threaten him with fork to get him to go.

She was then finally able to clean the house up from their dinner and that didn't take long. Everybody cleaned their plates so all she really had to do was wipe the plates off and then wipe the table off. In a mere five minutes she was done and now is resting in her room, on her bed looking out the window at the moon.

Her window was positioned perfectly where she had a full view of the moon. She knew Erik would probably soon arrive at their spot but she just needed a little time to herself to think. To think about today, to think about what-who she saw, and what she was told. _'I think you'd make a great warrior, my friend.'_ Anoriath's voice echoed in her mind as did the Companions she saw walk up the stone steps.

Then her two sisters working together to clean the house flashed through her mind and so did her father. The way he bossed the twins around this night and the way he tried to take charge in making dinner and the guilt behind his eyes when he asked if she would be okay with it if he went to Inn to meet with a friend. Everything coming together in her mind made a warm feeling blossom inside her that sent tingles all through her body. She didn't understand what it was at first but after a moment, she knew. She knew it was from excitement.

Excitement from how mature her sisters were tonight, excitement from how dedicated her father decided to become, and excitement from the readiness inside her. Now, she finally knew. She knew it was time. Time for her to live the life she's always wanted, time for her to live her dream.

Now she's up out of her bed, slipping out of her dress and digging through her drawers. She pulls out a pair of rough brown leather pants and a white button up top with long sleeves. It takes her no time to get dressed into her new clothing. She enjoyed the way her trousers fit and the way the long shirt draped over her waist. She then grabs a belts, strapping it around her waist. On it are a couple of pouches meant for coin purses

She now grabs her bag from the corner of her room and starts to stuff extra clothing into it as well as shoes. Once that's done, she ties the bag onto her back and then grabs a few coin purses from her extra savings of working as a waitress. She doesn't take it all though, she leaves most of it behind for her family. She knows they will need it.

She grabs a pair of brown boots that lace all the way up to the bottom of her knees. They were meant for traveling. She grabs a brush from her dresser while taking her hair down from her messy high bun. She winces when she brushes a few knots out of her hair but she's relieved when its done and ties her hair back up into a pony tail.

After finally being ready she leaves her room and goes to their food stores. She grabs a couple pieces of bread and some preserved salted meat. She also grabs a couple of apples and then stuffs it all in her bag. She stands up letting out a sigh. She looks to her sisters room and starts to think. _'I need to let them know...'_ A pit starts to form in her stomach as she searches for some paper.

She writes out the two separate notes with a sad frown on her face and tears forming in her eyes. ' _They'll be fine...'_ She tells herself while biting on her lower lip to stop more tears from coming. She slowly creeps into her sisters room leaving one note and then creeps into her fathers room leaving the other note. This wasn't goodbye, no. This was just a new beginning for her, she would come back and see them...eventually.

When she leaves the house and walks down her front steps, her feet feel heavy and each step gets harder. ' _It's okay...this is what you have always wanted...'_ She repeatedly told herself this trying to make it easier but it wasn't working. Who knew this would've been so hard. She finally reaches the stone road and when she does, she exhales heavily. ' _Alright, just one more stop.'_

She hurries out to the small stream and to her delight, Erik is there. Sitting in his usual spot, waiting for her. "Erik." She makes him jump and quickly look back at her. He's relieved when he sees her and smiles but that soon disappears when he sees how she looks. She looks like she's ready for a journey.

"What's." He cleares his throat while getting up from his place on the rock. He slowly approaches her, examining her closely. "What's all this?" He asks motioning a hand out towards her. "It's time Erik." She tells him with a smile. His face goes pale and he clears his throat again. "Time for what?" He tries to smile to hide his expression, but it wasn't working.

"It's time to leave this place and do what we've always wanted!" She throws her arms out while taking a step towards him. "It's time to become who we've always wanted to become, who we've always pretended to be when we would play in the fields as kids." She takes another step closer to him. She's so close now that Erik is starting flush and he feels like heat is radiating off of him.

He would like nothing more then to leave with her this night and set off on some crazy adventure, but he can't. Erik slowly looks down with a frown forming on his face as he rubs the back of his neck. She frowns taking a step away from him, she knits her eyebrows together confused by his reaction. "What? What is it?" Her voice breaks a bit, already showing that she knew what was coming.

He looks back up at her and when he sees her worried, panicked expression, it causes a pit to form in his heart. "I'm sorry, I can't." Now his voice breaks. She takes another quick step away from him. Now on her face was look of betrayal. "What do you mean you can't?" She raises her voice a little, making him wince and raise both hands up trying to keep her quiet.

"Just listen." He reaches a hand out for her but she quickly moves away from it so he can't touch her. That wounded him like a knife would. "I understand that you have your reasons for leaving like this but I." He stops to take a minute and to take a breath. "I can't leave my Dad, not like this." He starts to explain. "I don't want him to think he did something wrong." Erik looks down trying to speak as fast as he can.

"Then leave him a note!" She finally speaks, and she's loud. He raises his hands again to try and keep her quiet. "No, I can't do that." He looks back up at her with a saddened expression. "Before I leave, I have to have my father's blessing first. Please understand Li-" "No!" She cuts him off. "I don't understand. When we were kids you would spend hours telling me how you couldn't wait to grow up so we could leave this village together. We agreed that we didn't need our parents permission when the time came!" She almost sounds like she's begging.

"But it's different now." He tries to explain more. "I already know that your father expects you to take off any day, so he's ready for it but mine." Erik has to stop to try and swallow a hard lump rising in his throat. "I'm sorry." He closes his eyes and faces the ground so he doesn't face her. "I can't leave. Not like this." And that was that. Erik was not going to explain anymore and she didn't need him to.

She understood where he was coming from, she knew it was too much to ask but still. Still she felt betrayed and heart broken. She felt like he broke his promise and that's when she found herself already a mile away from him and almost back to the stone road that left their village. She couldn't look at him anymore, if she had stayed any moment longer than she wouldn't of left at all. It almost felt like she had no control of her body when she walked away from him and refused to look back at him. But she could feel his eyes on her, she could feel them like one would feel an ice spike through their back, because that's the feeling they were giving her. A feeling that made her cold and her chest hurt.

 _'He'll stand by you and support you, no matter what.'_ A sharp pain shoots through her heart. _'Yeah right.'_


	3. Chapter 3

She arrives in Whiterun far past midnight. She has no where to stay but the Inn, so that's where she is now. She sits on the edge of the bed of the room that she rented for the night with her hands tightly clenched together in her lap. She's looking down at the floor with sad and tired eyes. That argument between Erik and her just very well maybe the last things they have said to each other, and she didn't like it.

Her mind then wonders from Erik and over to the Companions. Anoriath had assured her that they had no reason not to take her in but what if they did decide not to take her in? What would she do then? She couldn't go back, not after what happened with Erik. She lets out a sigh as she lays down on the bed, now facing towards the ceiling of the Inn. _'I just need to get some rest for now, then tomorrow I will deal with...everything.'_

Morning comes dreadfully slow and she didn't get a wink of sleep. She fought all night with excitement and nerves. She would get excited from the thought of possibly being a Companion and then she would get nervous about them rejecting her and kicking her to the street. Now that it was morning and time to get moving to Jorrvaskr. She couldn't bring herself to get up.

She was sitting at a table in the corner of the Inn with a mug full of water and a plate full of food in front of her. She knew she needed to eat something but she just couldn't. She was afraid of whatever she got down her throat would just come right back up. "Something wrong with the food?" The waitress of the Inn is suddenly beside her and she makes her jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." The waitress gives her a small, apologetic smile. "Oh that's quite alright!" She looks up at the Redguard woman and returns the smile. "So, is there something wrong with your food." The waitress asks nudging her head towards her full plate. "Oh no, I'm sure it's all delicious." She reassures her. "Alright, let me know if you need anything else." She then turns her back and starts to walk away. "Hey wait!" She reaches a hand out to her.

The waitress stops and turns her head slightly to look at her from over her shoulder. "Do you..." She pauses for a moment trying to gather her thoughts and words. "Do you know the Companions?" She finally asks. "The Companions?" The waitress fully turns towards her with an eyebrow raised. "I know of the Companions, a few of them come in here at night for drinks." She answers while placing a hand on her hips. "Oh." She looks away from the waitress and at the table.

"Why do ask?" The waitress's curiosity was showing. "Well you see." She clears her throat. "I'm wanting to join them but I." She stops to take in a deep breath. "I don't know what they're like so-" "You're worried they won't accept you?" The waitress answers for her with an eyebrow raised. She only nods in response, keeping her head down and eyes on the table. "Well." The waitress crosses her arms and tilts her head up to look at the ceiling while she starts to think.

"The ones that come in here at night are loud and clumsy." She looks back down at the sitting newcomer. "If they let that lot in then I wouldn't be worry about it if I were you." The waitress gives her a small smile. She felt relieved to hear that, she really needed someone to tell her something like that. She finally looks up at the waitress and returns her smile. "Thank you miss." She stops, not knowing her name. "Saadia." She bows her head towards her. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask dear." Saadia pats her shoulder and then walks away.

After that small talk with Saadia she finally has the courage to leave the Inn. When she closes the door behind her and turns around, the first person she sees to arrive at their stand is Anoriath. She smiles and quickly goes to him. "Anoriath!" She makes him jump from suddenly being behind him. Anoriath turns around and smiles seeing who it was. "Hey! What are you doing here?" He asks with a slight tilt in his head. "Well I." She places her arms behind her back and looks down at the ground. "You're going to try and join the Companions aren't you?" He gets it head on. It wasn't hard to guess though, why else would she be in Whiterun and why else would she look so nervous.

She looks up at him with a nervous smile and nods. "You don't look very confident my friend." He points out while crossing his arms and leaning his back on his stand. "What's the matter?" He asks. "Well, I'm just afraid that I've come here for nothing." She looks back down with a worried frown on her face. "What do you mean?" His eyebrows knit together with concern.

"I'm just worried that when I get there they will see that I'm just some village girl with no training and give me the boot!" She throws her arms up in the air while walking around him to the front of his stand. Anoriath followers her, continuing to listen. "Oh who am I kidding." She now crosses her arms and looks down at the ground. "They won't accept me, there's no way." She shakes her head. "You don't know that." He stands behind her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I do!" She throws her arms back up in the air as she turns around to face him. "I don't even have a weapon for goodness sake, why would they take me on?" Her face showed disappointment from the reality.

"Need a sword eh?" Anoriath gives her a smile while he runs a hand down his beard. She raises an eyebrow at him. "Come on, follow me." He places his hand back on her shoulder and leads her down the road. "What about your stand? Don't you have to open?" She asks out of concern for her friend. "It can stay closed for a while longer." He waves a careless hand back towards his stand.

Anoriath has led her to his and his brothers hunting shop, The Drunken Huntsmen. She once asked his brother, Elrindir about the name and he shared a humorous story that started their friendship. When they walked in Elrindir was about to say his usual line that he does to customers but when he sees who it is, a big smile appears on his face.

"Aw, my dear friend!" He says while spreading both arms out wide to show his happiness. "It's been too long, Elrindir." She says with a smile while approaching the counter. "That it has my lady, that it has." He bowed his head towards her keeping his happy smile on his face. He then turns his head towards Anoriath and raises an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you supposed to be running the stall?" He asks. Anoriath just waves a hand at him. "I will after this." He assures but his brother only continues to stare at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Is there something you need then?" He moves his eyes from her to Anoriath. "I need a sword, well she actually needs a sword." He nudges his head towards his friend. She quickly looks at him with wide, surprised eyes. "A sword? What for?" Elrindir looks at her. "She's going to try and join the Companions today." Anoriath answered for her with a smile. "Really? Finally?" Elrindir smiled.

"Yep! But she can't do that without a sword, now can she?" Anoriath rested an elbow on the counter, leaning on it while he kept his eyes on his brother. "Oh I see." Elrindir nods keeping his smile. "Just give me one moment." He holds up a finger to them both and walks off to their store room where they keep most of their weapons.

She taps her fingers on the sides of her legs eagerly and impatiently. "Here we are!" She quickly turns once she hears Elrindir. "This otta be fit for an aspiring warrior." Elrindir holds up a newly made steel sword. "Ah! That's what I was just thinking!" Anoriath gestures both arms out in front towards it while standing back up straight.

"Here you are." Elrindir smiles as he holds the sword out to her, but she only stares at it with unsure eyes. Anoriath furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head. "What's the matter?" He asks. She looks at the sword a moment longer and then looks to Anoriath. "It's a nice sword and I'd love to have it, but I don't think I have enough coin for it." She speaks with a disappointed frown. "Who said anything about coin?" Elrindir chuckles.

"My friend." Anoriath takes the sword from his brother and then gives it to her. "This is a gift, we don't charge for gifts." He smiles at her while he places the sword in her hand. "W-what?" She looks at them both with wide eyes. "But this sword looks expensive! I can't let you lose money on something like this just for me!" She objects and tries to refuse the gift, but the two brothers shake their heads, refusing to take it back.

"It's okay, really!" Elrindir assures her with a hand being placed on her shoulder. "We've made a little extra money over the last couple weeks with the shop, so it won't hurt us any to give this to you." Anoriath explains. She looks at them both and then looks down at the sword. There wasn't a single scratch on the steel and no sign of any chipping in the blade. It was truly new, and hers.

A smile slowly spreads across her face as she stares at her reflection in the blade of the sword. The brothers both look at each other with pleased smiles. Suddenly, her smile fades and she looks back up at them with a look of worry. They both raise an eyebrow up at her. "What if they don't accept me? What if you lose money for nothing?!" She tightens her grip on the sword while moving her eyes from one brother to another.

Anoriath crosses his arms and gives her a crooked smile. "You're really worried about that, huh?" He asks, tilting his head. She answers him with a nod. "Well don't worry about it!" Elrindir cuts in. "Tell you what." Anoriath moves over placing an arm around her shoulder. "If they really do not accept you, come back here and work for us." "Work for you?" She raises both eyebrows while turning her head to him. Anoriath nods. "We have an extra room for you to stay in and we'll pay you. I can even teach you how to hunt, hunting has its own adventures you know." He gives her a playful shake with the arm he has around her shoulder.

"That actually doesn't sound too bad." Elrindir thinks out loud with a hand on his chin. "See, now you really don't have anything to worry about." Anoriath gives her a pat on the shoulder and then removes his arm from her. She smiles at them both and then looks back down at the sword. "Thank you guys, you've really helped me out." She's so happy and relieved that she feels like she's on the brink of tears.

"Don't worry about it! Now get out of here and come back later to tell us how it went!" Anoriath gives her a small push to the door. "Oh wait!" Before she can walk out the door Elrindir rushes over and gives her something. She looks down at what he just handed her and its a holster for her new sword that ties to her belt. She smiles at it and then fastens it to her belt tightly. The sword slides smoothly into its sheathe and she can't help but smile bigger at the sword on her hip. She truly feels like a warrior now. With that done and with her new confidence, she gives the two brothers a quick wave goodbye and leaves their shop.

Whatever confidence she had back at the Drunken Huntsmen is now gone, because now she sits on one of the benches that surround the old tree near the temple, unable to move. The moment she reached the steps that led up to Jorrvaskr and the moment she looked up at the great hall, she froze. She felt sweat bead up on her face and she could feel her knees begin to shake. No matter how many times she tried to take a step, she couldn't. She just couldn't find the nerve to do it.

"Pathetic." She whispers to herself with a sigh while she runs a brush through her long thick hair. She puts her brush back in her bag and takes out her hair tie. She then begins to braid her hair in a loose braid over her shoulder, leaving her bangs out of the braid. Her bangs normally curved around her face, so they never got in the way. Once she was done and tied the last knot in the hair tie, she settles her hands down in her lap and looks to the ground with disappointed eyes.

She was disappointed in herself, in her confidence, in her...everything. Elrindir and Anoriath have helped her so much in this, and she was letting them down. She lets out an annoyed groan while leaning over with both elbows resting on the tops of her knees and her chin resting on the tops of her fists. "I'll never get to be a Companion at this rate..." She whispers to herself again with another disappointed sigh.

"Companions huh?" The sudden arrival from an unfamiliar voices causes her to jump and almost fall out of her seat. She quickly looks up with her heart racing and sees a young woman, about her age, standing in front of her with an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry." She can't help but chuckle a bit. "I didn't mean to scare you." She gives her another sincere apologetic smile.

She looks at the young woman for a moment, examining her. She looked like an Imperial and she had short brown hair with braids that joined together in the back and braids that went down the sides. She had brown eyes and tanned skin like most Imperials did. She had on what looked like scaled armor -which was a type of light armor- and hide boots on with it. Strapped to her side was a sword and on her arm was a shield. Besides all that, what really caught her eye was the markings on the woman's face. Like the man's markings from the other day, they too symbolize her as a warrior.

 _'Could she be?'_ She blinks, staring at the young woman for a moment longer. She notices an uncomfortable look appear on the woman's face and that's when she realizes they've been in silence for too long. "Oh!" She quickly gets to her feet. "It's okay, you didn't startle me too bad, I was just lost in thought was all." She rubs the back of her neck as she gives her an awkward chuckle. "I see." The woman smiles at her.

"Please forgive my ease dropping, but a moment ago I thought I heard you say something about the Companions?" The young woman moves her eyes to Jorrvaskr and then back to her. "O-oh, yeah..." She sighs in disappointment again as she looks down at the ground. The young woman raises an eyebrow at her in question to the look of disappointment. "You see, I find myself in a rather difficult situation." She gives her another awkward chuckle while keeping her eyes down and rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh?" The woman asks with a tilt to her head.

"You see." She stops to look back at Jorrvaskr. "I want to be a Companion, badly in fact. But I can't bring myself to walk up those steps." She explains. "Oh? And why's that?" The young woman asks with a smile growing on her face. "Mostly because I'm nervous, heh." She turns her face back to the woman with a nervous chuckle. "But also." She looks back down at the ground. "I'm afraid of walking in their with my hopes up and then leaving with them shattered." Her voice is quiet and sad.

The young woman tilts her head and knits her eyebrows down together with concern. "Why are you afraid of that?" She asks sympathetically. "Because I'm afraid they'll reject me and I don't think I'll be able to handle it if they do." She answers with a sad sigh. A smile quickly takes form on the woman's face as a laugh escapes from her. "Why on earth would you be afraid of that?" She asks with another laugh.

"Huh?" She looks up at her, confused with her question. "Trust me when I say this, they are NOT picky with who they take in." The woman steps towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her completely around to face Jorrvaskr. "Do you." She moves her eyes from the building and to the young woman. "Do you know the Companions?" She asks, slightly already guessing the answer.

"Know them?" The woman removes her hand from her shoulder and walks a few steps a head of her. "I am a Companion." She then turns herself towards her with a smile on her face. An excited smile slowly takes form as she moves her eyes from the young woman and to Jorrvaskr. _'I knew it.'_ She thinks to herself with a bigger smile. "You coming or what?" The young woman knocks her out of it. She blinks and looks at her seeing she's already halfway up the steps. The woman stops and turns to her with a smile, waiting for her. She can't contain her smile as she grabs her bag and runs to the woman.

"Follow me, I'll show you where to go." The young woman says while leading her to the two front doors. The young woman grabs the right doors handle and while opening it she turns her head to her. "By the way, my name is Ria." She introduces herself with a sweet smile. "It's an honor to meet you Ria!" She meant that. Ria was one of the Companions and one of the nicest people she's met so far. With Ria's help, she may very well get to be a Companion. "My name is-" When Ria opens the door, loud shouting and commotion from inside interrupts her before she can finish.

"Hey a fight!" A clearly drunken man yells. They both step inside and look to the commotion. "Are those two at it again?!" A grumpier voice yells this time. She steps forward to get a better look. In one of the far parts of the large room, were two people fighting. "Aaaah!" One of them yells, and it was a woman. She just threw a punch at the other one but he dodged. That one was a Dark Elf man. The Dark Elf man then swung a leg out behind her feet taking her down but before she went completely down she grabbed his arm, pulling him down with her.

"I got money on the one with tits!" The drunken one from before yells. "You don't have any money." A familiar deep voice replies."Exciting bunch." She says to herself with a chuckle. "Don't mind them." Ria was already walking away from the commotion. "It's just a typical day for those two." She waves a hand at the two who are fighting. She walks fast to catch up with Ria. Ria leads her to a set of stairs that go down into the lower part of the building.

Ria opens the door and steps into a large hallway. She follows close behind her and looks around at everything she can. In the hallway on the walls were mounted heads of animals she assumes the Companions have hunted. Across from the stairs they just walked down is a large room and through the open doorway she can see a few beds. _'That must be where they all stay.'_

"Come on, this way." Ria snaps her out of it. She looks and sees Ria walking down the hall now. She quickly follows after her. "Kodlack Whitemane is the one you want to speak to, he's our Harbinger. He'll decide if you can join or not." She explains. "Right." She nods with a nervous sigh. "Don't worry, he's a good man and a good judge of character. He judges one for the heart, not skill." She explains more while slightly looking back at her with a smile.

She nods in response, returning the smile but she still can't help but feel nervous. "His room is at the very end of the hall, near his room is where the circle members stay. You'll learn more about them if you get to join with us." She continues to explain as they pass by two separate hallways that break off from the main hallway.

They both stop in front of a large wooden door. She examines it closely, it looked old but it held together well. On both sides of the door were large candle holders with lit candles placed inside them. She didn't really need to be told that this was where the leader stayed. The entrance to the room was a clear message. From where they were, they both could here muffled voices from inside the room. They were both different, one deeper than the other, and they were quiet. It sounded like they were trying to be quiet on purpose.

"You ready?" Ria asks her with a sweet smile. She looks at Ria, returning the smile and giving her a nervous nod. Ria then turns back to the door and bangs on it with her fist. The voices inside quickly quiet down leaving them both waiting in silence. "Come in." They here an older mans voice call to them loudly. Ria grabs the handle of the door and begins to open it. While she watches, she grips her stomach tightly from her nerves taking over.

The door opens fully before them. Ria takes a few casual steps in while she only takes a couple of small ones in. She slightly looks around and can see that this room was just part of a bigger room. She guessed that the rest of it was behind the closed door to the right of her. "Ah, Ria. What can I do for you my girl." The older man speaks with a calm and cheerful voice. "I have someone here who is looking to be a Companion." Ria nudges her head back towards her.

She jumps and quickly looks down when she realizes that she has just been pointed out. She couldn't bring herself to look up at the leader of the Companions for fear she might faint. "Oh really?" The older man sounds amused. She can feel his eyes on her and yet, she still refuses to look at him. Her face flushes red as she feels the heat in her body increase rapidly. _'Get a hold of yourself!'_ She clenches her jaw tightly while swallowing down a hard lump in her throat.

She takes in a deep breath and then slowly lifts her head to meet eyes with the very leader of the Companions. In front of her, at a table, sits an old man who she assumes is Kodlak Whitemane. His long white hair is brushed back out of his face with a couple of traditional braids hanging down over his ears and his beard is as white as his hair and as thick to. She studies his strong, firm frame and can see the muscles in his arms tightening as he crosses them over his large chest. On the side of his face is an old warrior marking and going across his face was an old, but noticeable scar. He wears a familiar set of steel armor with wolf carvings on the shoulder plates. Finally she meets his eyes, which are a striking cold blue. This man definitely had the look of a warrior, and a leader.

"What's the matter girl? Skeever got your tongue?" His loud voice makes her jump and knocks her out of it. She's done it again, she wonders how no one has tried to strike her yet for staring. "I'm sorry!" She quickly apologizes while taking her eyes off him and planting them on the floor. Kodlak can't help but chuckle at the nervous young lass before him. "So, you wish to be a Companion, eh?" She only nods in response, too nervous to speak.

"Hmmm...Step closer, let me get a better look at you." She can hear him straighten up in his chair and move around to lean forward. She looks back up at him and takes a few careful steps towards him. "Hmmm..." He examines her closely while rubbing his long beard. She can feel her face start to flush again and her knees were starting to weaken. _'There's no way he's going to accept me...'_ A small anxious frown appears on her face while her chin starts to quiver.

She feels Ria give her a small pat on the back and then hears her leave the room. She wants to look at her, beg her to stay, but she doesn't. She doesn't dare take her eyes off of him for fear that might show some sort of disrespect and have him hate her. The thought of it made her want to be sick and pass out.

"There's a certain look about you." He finally speaks while relaxing back in his chair. She looks at him with wide and anxious eyes. _'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?'_ She starts to feel her heart beat hard against her chest as she can hear it in her ears. "Tell me girl." He starts. "How do you handle yourself in battle?" He re-crosses his arms over his chest and waits patiently for an answer. Her rapid heart beat comes to a stop and it now sinks in her chest.

She can't help but frown a bit at the question even though she expected it. _'Of course something like that would be important...'_ She slowly moves her eyes down to the floor. Once she tells him she knows it'll all be over and she can't lie about it, though she admits that it did cross her mind but lying will get you no where in life. She lets out a deep sigh and then looks back up at Kodlak.

"To be honest with you..." She starts but has to stop to swallow a hard lump in her throat. "I don't have any experience in combat and have never been in any kind of battle." She speaks with a low voice trying to cover up her emotions but it wasn't working. Kodlak raises his eyebrows, surprised by her honesty. Most aspiring warriors would lie about something like that. "I don't even know how to use a sword, but." She slowly looks back down at the ground. "I would really like to learn if you would take me in and teach me." She slightly looks back up at him with a small flicker of hope showing in her eyes.

Kodlak stares at her for a moment, examining her familiar features from both the past and present. A smile slowly forms in his face while he relaxes his arms down with his hands resting in his lap. "You're honesty is appreciated and I believe with our help, you will become a fine warrior." He speaks honestly and firmly but with a smile.

She lifts her head up, looking at him fully now. Her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open. Her sunken heart leaps back to life and is now banging hard against her chest but with excitement this time instead fear. She can feel butterflies form in her stomach and flutter about all through her body as a smile full of happiness spreads across her face, but a scoff nearby makes all of that disappear and a furrowed eyebrow appear.

She turns her head in the direction where it comes from and is surprised to see a familiar young man sitting in a chair on the other side of the table. _'Where did he come from?'_ She starts to think but then remembers hearing two different voices from behind the door earlier. She must of been so nervous that she didn't even notice him when she entered the room. The more she looks at him the more she realizes why he looks so familiar. It's because he is the one who she locked eyes with in the marketplace yesterday and she can tell by his eyes that he too, recognized her.

She couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed when thinking about it and she can feel her face flush a bit. "Problem, Vilkas?" Kodlak asks while turning to look at him with furrowed eyebrows. _'Yeah, problem Vilkas?'_ She wants to say but holds her tongue. Vilkas crosses his arms and turns his head to meet Kodlak's eyes. "You're seriously going to take her in? Her?" He furrows his own eyebrows down at Kodlak. She raises an eyebrow up at him. _'What's this guys problem?'_

"You have a problem with that?" Kodlak sits up straight as he crosses his own arms, it almost looks like he's challenging him. She see's Vilkas wince a bit and relax more against the chair trying to show Kodlak that he wasn't trying to disrespect him any way. "It's just that." He starts while looking back at her. She see's him move his eyes all over her body, clearly judging her in some way, and she didn't like it.

"I've never even heard of this outsider and you heard it yourself. She has no combat training, how can we expect her to get any work done? With her lack of skill she'd only give us a bad name and have people mock us." He speaks without any hesitation and to him, his words are true. She furrows her eyebrows down at him and sneers a bit. _'That's it. I officially hate this guy.'_

"That's enough, Vilkas." Kodlak gives him a half smile and then turns to her, giving her the same confident smile. "We all know that skill is important but we should also know that heart is more important. Without heart you can have no honor and I believe this girl has the heart to be one of us. And besides, last time I checked, Jorrvaskr had some empty beds to spare." He turns his head back to Vilkas and Vilkas can only sigh with a defeated frown. _'Take that, you ass.'_ She can't help but think to herself with a victorious smile.

"Now, moving on." Kodlak turns his head back to her with a kind smile. "Tell me your name girl." She opens her mouth to tell him but stops. _'My name?'_ She starts to think. _'I should tell them my name of course, but.'_ She slowly moves her eyes down to the floor. _'Must I really use my name? Must I really keep going by that name? That name is a different girl from a different place. That name belongs to a girl who remained stuck for a very long time and I am no longer stuck, I am no longer that girl. This is a new beginning, so why not start it with a new name?'_ A small smile started to form on her face.

She would need a name that she wished to represent when she became a warrior. She wanted the name that kept her going all these years. With it decided, she looks back up at Kodlak with a confident smile and sparkling eyes. "My name is Hope."


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on, follow me." Vilkas speaks to Hope in a grumpy voice while leaving Kodlak's room. Hope turned to Kodlak with a worried look about Vilkas but Kodlak just gives her a nod and a smile. She sighs, having little choice but to follow the grumpy Companion. After Kodlak's decision to let her join, he instructed Vilkas to take Hope out in the training yard to see what she can do. Even though she told Kodlak repeatedly that she doesn't know how to fight, he still insisted on Vilkas taking her out. "It's just a small test to see where we need to start with you in training." Is what Kodlak told her.

She believed him but by the way Vilkas reacted to her being able to join, she didn't believe that he was going to make it easy. It was obvious that Vilkas didn't like her joining and it was super obvious that he just didn't like her in general. Which was fine, because she's decided that she doesn't like him either. Every place had it's own ass and it appeared that Vilkas was the Companion's ass.

A small snicker escapes from Hope as that image comes to her mind. "Hm?" Vilkas slightly looks over his shoulder at her while leading her down the hall. She quickly straightens up and looks away from acting like she did nothing. Vilkas sneers at her and then turns back around leading her up the stairs that Ria led her down earlier. When they reach the top step Hope notices that it was a lot quieter than before.

She stops for a moment to look around and she sees that half the people that were in here before were now gone. _'Please don't let them be in the training yard...'_ She thinks to herself with an uneasy stomach. The last thing she needed was an audience when she embarrasses herself outside. "You coming or what?" Vilkas's loud, grumpy voice knocks her out of it. She slightly jumps and turns to him, seeing him standing at the door with an annoyed look on his face.

She lets out a sigh while hurrying over to him. Before she can fully reach him Vilkas opens the door and walks outside not bothering to look at her. She has to basically run to the door to catch it before it slams in her face. She gives Vilkas a glare but he doesn't see it because his back is turned to her. He just doesn't care at all. _'What an ass!'_ She thinks to herself with a sneer on her face.

As she fully steps outside while shutting the door behind her a large, nervous frown appears on her face. Just as she feared just a bit ago, most of the Companions she saw earlier were outside and when they heard the door shut, they all turned to look at her. She stands frozen with their curious eyes on her. They didn't see her enter before so they didn't know who she was and non of them yet got the news that she was the newest member. Except for Ria, she was sitting at a table just a few feet away from the door and she was waving at her with the same sweet smile from before.

"Come on, we haven't got all day!" Vilkas calls to her from the training yard. She jumps a bit and then hurries over to where he was, but before completely stepping out into the training yard, she sets her bags down by one of the pillars. Vilkas stands ready in the middle of the training yard with a large shield made of steel strapped to his arm. "Stand over there." Vilkas motions his head towards a spot across from him. She does what he says and goes to the spot immediately.

Vilkas waits while she gets in her spot and then he watches her turn to him, facing him fully. He moves his eyes down her body and then up to her face. He examines her from her long sleeved wrinkled button up top, to her worn brown leather pants, and then last to her smooth, freckled face. "Hrmph." He exclaims in displeasure with a crooked frown on his face. Hope furrows her eyebrows at him. _'He's judging me again.'_

"Couldn't of put something better on?" He points out her messy clothing. She raises an eyebrow up at him and then looks down at her cloths. "You look like you slept in those." He points out again. She did, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of guessing that right. "Who cares. We're not here to discuss my clothing." She replies while looking back up at him and crossing her arms over her breasts. "You're right. We're here to test the skills you don't have." He also points out with a small smirk.

 _'I hate this guy.'_ She thinks to herself with a scowl on her face. "Get on with it." A loud grumpy voice cuts in making them both jump and turn to where it comes from. Leaning against one of the pillars is a large, older man. He looked to be about Kodlak's age but with less hair. He was bald on the top of his head but he still wore a low pony tail. Across one pale eye on his face, is a large scar and like all the other Companions, he too had a warrior's marking on his face. But that wasn't the only thing on his face, on his face was an impatient, grumpy frown being aimed towards Vilkas. By the way Vilkas winced from the look he gave him, Hope assumed that this Companion was a higher rank than him.

Behind the older Companion Hope can see the others gather behind him, watching with eager eyes. _'Oh great.'_ She thinks to herself nervously. An audience is not what she needed. Vilkas's sigh catches her attention making her look at him. He meets her eyes for a moment and then moves them down to the sword strapped to her hip. "Go a head and draw your weapon." He instructs. She gives him a small nod and then looks down at the sword, pulling it out of its sheathe.

Vilkas examines the steel sword. The way it reflected the sunlight and glimmered he could tell it had just been made. "Alright, I want you to come at me and give me all you got." He instructs her more as he raises the shield up a bit. She just stands there staring at him, not sure of how to go about it. "Come on already!" He shouts to her growing impatient. As she continues to stare at him she can feel her stomach tie into knots making her want to be sick. She grips her sword tightly in her fist trying to contain her nerves but it was hard. Especially since her knees were staring to shake.

"Another fluke it seems." A loud female voice comes from the gathered Companions. She winces from that comment like a stone had just been thrown at her head. "It seems the Companions are letting ANYONE join these days..." Another Companion grumbles out loud. She winces again with her jaw tightening. She knew that they were just opinions of others and that she shouldn't listen to them, but for some reason. They cut her deep.

 _'Why am I even here?'_ She starts to doubt herself with her eyes slowly moving down towards the ground. Vilkas let's out a sigh getting more impatient, he lowers his shield to look at her. He opens his mouth to shout at her but is surprised by the look on her face, which stops him. The look of doubt and disappointment covers her face and spills from her eyes. "Giving up already?" Vilkas shouts over to her loudly, catching her attention. She doesn't lift her face all the way but he does have her eyes on him now.

"Thought you wanted to learn and be a Companion." He keeps going while keeping his voice at a loud volume. She now lifts her face up and furrows her eyebrows down at him. "Don't tell me you made me come out for nothing." Vilkas puts a sneer on his face. "Should've known you were nothing but a waste of time." Now he really has her attention. _'Huh?!'_ A sharp glare forms on her face as she sends dagger's his way.

"Why don't you stop getting your hopes up and just go be a bar maid or a tavern wench. Seems that would suit you better." She's not sure what got into her but she suddenly finds herself running towards Vilkas with her sword ready in hand. Vilkas realizes almost too late that she's on the move and lifts his shield up just in time. When she hits the shield with her sword it immediately bounces off making her stumble back a bit. Realizing the opening, Vilkas quickly moves forward and bashes her hard with his shield before she could regain herself.

The hard bash sends her to the ground hard but it doesn't take her long to get back to her feet. _'I won't let him have victory that easy!'_ She goes in for another hit with her sword but the moment her arm is in the air Vilkas moves the shield from in front of him showing that he had his own sword in hand. _'Oh crap.'_ She jumps back just in time before his sword can slice her gut. _'Is he trying to kill me!?'_ The shock of it throws her off and Vilkas takes advantage of that. He moves fast to her for a close attack but he doesn't use his weapon or shield this time.

This time he just simply swipes a foot out behind her legs making her fall right on her back. She hits her head hard on the ground but she still tries to regain herself quickly. She grabs her sword and readies herself to get back up but the moment she sits up, the tip of Vilkas's sword is right in her face. It's so close that it's just barely touching the tip of her nose.

She moves her eyes from the blade and up at Vilkas, who was smiling with satisfaction. She sneers at him, annoyed with the whole situation. "You're fast and you have good reflexes, but your fighting is awful and so is your balance." Vilkas puts his sword back in its sheathe while speaking to her. "Don't even get me started on your wit of the battle. You kept getting thrown off and distracted with your emotions that you didn't pay attention to your opponent." He continues to lecture her while unstrapping the shield from his arm.

Hope lets out a sigh while getting back up to her feet and putting her sword back into its sheathe. "Not to mention-" "Okay I get it!" She cuts him off. He smirks a bit while walking over to the stone wall in their training yard to put the shield back in its place against it. "Why did you attack me with your sword? You could of killed me you know." She crosses her arms, keeping her glare on her face as she watches him walk back over to her. "Expect the unexpected in battle new blood." He says while removing his sword from his belt, sheathe and all. "Train well and you just might make it here." His tone is different this time. It was almost encouraging and just about changed her mind about him.

Until he shoved his sword into her arms that is. "Now take this to Eorlund Gray-Mane at the forge up the hill there." He points at it behind him with his thumb. She furrows her eyebrows down at him. "Why do I have to do that?" She asks annoyed. "Because you're just a welp and you do what we tell you." He explains while walking back to the doors going in. She furrows her eyebrows at him as she watches him. "And be careful with it! It's probably worth more than you are!" She can a faint chuckle coming from him as he was just about to open the door.

 _ **CLANG!**_ The sudden loud noise made Vilkas and the rest of the Companions who were now sitting back down, jump. They all turn at the same time Vilkas does. His eyes widen when he sees his sword has been dropped to the ground. He quickly looks back up at Hope, his wide eyes now turn into a mean glare. Hope looks down at the sword with a fake, surprised expression and then looks back up at Vilkas. "Oops." Is all she says.

She can hear small gasps coming from the other Companions, but she doesn't care. She just watches Vilkas storm towards her with fire in his eyes. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from smiling. "What do you think you're doing!?" He yells while gesturing a hand out towards his dropped sword. "I dropped it." She shrugs, keeping a calm voice.

"You- dro-" He stops with both words while looking back and forth from his sword to her. "You didn't drop it!" He speaks clearly with anger in his voice. "You threw it!" He exclaims angrily with throwing both of his arms up in the air. "Did I?" She gasps, acting surprised while looking back down at the sword. "Oops." She looks back up at him keeping her surprised look on her face. She sees Vilkas clench his jaw and watches his face slowly turn red. He's obviously never had someone act this way towards him before and she was happy to oblige. He then quickly picks his sword back up and takes it out of its sheathe to make sure its okay. The moment he takes it out they both can see small steel fragments fall from the edge of the blade. The fall has made the swords edges chip. His eyes widen as he watches the small chips of steel fall to the ground, he then slowly moves his eyes to the blade seeing its newly rigged edge. The anger inside him explodes, so much that he can't find words to express it. All he can do is stare at his chipped blade with a fiery glare. "Not worth so much now is it?" Her voice is quiet but intimidating.

Vilkas's eyes are now on her and the fire in them is so great she can almost feel it burn her. _'Might of gone too far with this one...'_ She admits to herself while looking into Vilkas's eyes. He looked like he was about to lung at her any second. "Alright, alright! That's enough you two!" The grumpy Companion from before steps in between them. He can tell where this is going, Vilkas did not have a good tempter on him and this new blood had just hit him in the right spot. It was refreshing to see someone act against Vilkas for once though, it was definetily entertaining.

The grumpy Companion takes the sword from Vilkas and gives it back to Hope. " Names Skjor." He quickly introduces himself but doesn't do it pleasantly. " Now, do as he says and take it to Eorlund. You're also paying for any repairs on the sword new blood." He ordered her in a stern voice. She doesn't risk disobeying this one and quickly takes off, doing what he told her to do. Skjor turns back to Vilkas seeing the anger still painted on his face. He can't help but chuckle as he gives Vilkas a couple hard pats to the back before heading back inside Jorrvaskr.

Vilkas moves his eyes to Skjor and watches him walk away, he then sligtly turns his head to Hope, watching her walk away. He sneers at her showing a bit of his canines. _'I officially hate her.'_

As Hope climbs the many stairs to the forge, she can't help but feel regrettable about what she did, but at the same time she also feels slightly pleased with herself. That Vilkas has been doing nothing but insult her since she's arrived and if she's going to be a Companion then she needs to show him that she's not going to be pushed around. She starts to think about the gasps and murmurers that came from the other Companions when she "dropped" his sword. Everyone else may like getting stepped on but not her. She wasn't going to allow it.

When she reaches the top of the giant hill she can see an old man working at the forge. She stands there for a moment watching him. His back was turned to her and he seemed really busy, she wasn't sure if she should bother him but she also didn't want to disobey Skjor and leave without giving him the sword.

She bites down on the corner of her bottom lip trying to figure out what to do. Luckily she didn't have to do anything. Eorlund drops a metal bar into a crate of water and then turns around towards her. He's surprised to see her standing there and examins her for a moment. "Can I help you with something lass?" He asks with a strong Nordic accent. "Oh!" She jumps a bit when he notices her and then hurries over. "Here, this is Vilkas's sword." She carefully hands him the newly chipped blade.

Eorlund takes the sword out of its sheath and raises an eyebrow at its condition. Hope quickly looks away while ribbing the back of her neck. "Why is it chipped like this?" He asks as he runs a finger against its rough edge. "Dropped it." She mumbles keeping her eyes away from him. Eorlund moves his eyes to her with his eyebrows knitted together with confusion.

He starts to think about it and then remembers the commotion from just a bit ago. A small chuckle escapes him as he slides the sword back in its sheathe. "You're new here right?" Eorlund asks with a small smile. She turns her face back to him and gives him a small nod. "Figured since Vilkas sent you here with his sword, which I imagine didn't work out like he thought it would at the start." He chuckles again while walking over to a wooden table to set the sword down. She follows him without thinking.

"He likes to send all newcomers on stupid errands then?" She asks in a grumpy mumble. "Aye, that he does." Eorlund chuckles again. "So...are you a Companion?" She asks him while examining his hide armor. "No lass, I'm just the smith." He replies as he rearranges things on the table. "Let me give you some advice though." He stands up straight and turns around to face her. "Just because you're new here doesn't mean the others can boss you around." He leans his back against the table while crossing his arms over his chest. "They were all welps once too even though they don't like to talk about it." He can't help but chuckle again.

"What do you mean?" She asks. "What I mean is." He stops to turn and look out at Vilkas below him, who was now sitting on the ground with his arms and legs crossed. He was looking at the ground with a mean scowl. He was obviously still mad. Eorlund smiles a bit and then turns back to Hope. "Don't always do what you're told is all I'm saying. Nobody rules over anybody in the Companions." He explains.

"But what about Kodlak? Isn't he the leader of the Companions?" She asks confused. "No lass, he's just the Harbinger." He replies. "Isn't that the same thing?" She asks again with an eyebrow raised. "No, but the others do treat him as such and respect him greatly. In reality though, he just councils the Companions with his experience and advice." He explains more clearly. She nods in response, understanding now. Even though Kodlak wasn't the leader, she still wanted to treat him as such. He seemed to be a man who has earned his respect and place.

"Well, I guess I should be going now." She says with a sigh. Before she can turn to walk away, Eorlund stops her. "Hold a moment." He reaches a hand out towards her. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. He turns back around to the wooden table and picks up a newly made shield. He holds the heavy shield out towards her with both hands. "Could you deliver this to Aela for me? You see, my wife is grieving and I need to get back to her as soon as possible." He explains his situation with sadness forming in his eyes. It would seem, he too was grieving.

She gives him a smile and gladly takes the shield from him. It was heavier then she thought, she stumbles over when it drops into her arms and nearly drops it. "Careful." Eorlund quickly holds his hands out underneath it just in case it does fall from her arms. But she has it, for the moment. "Remind me." She starts already out of breath. "Who is Aela?" She asks with raised eyebrows.

Eorlund can't help but chuckle as Hope leans over trying to hold the heavy shield the best she can. "She's one of the circle members, just ask any of the other Companions. They'll point you to her." He instructs. She nods, understanding him. She takes in a deep breath and lifts the shield up as high as she can while turning away from Eorlund and heading for the stairs. She's going to have to go down them very carefully or she just might fall and break something else.

"Oh!" She suddenly remembers something and turns back around to Eorlund. "How much to fix Vilkas's sword?" She asks. "Nothing lass, don't worry about it. Now go before you drop that." He waves her off to go. She nods and then turns back around as quick as she can.

When Hope finally reaches the bottom step, she's completely out of breath and a sweaty mess. She sets the shield down on the ground for just a moment to catch her breath. "Why is it so damn heavy!?" She speaks breathlessly to herself. She stands up straight, placing her hands on her lower back to stretch it out. She let's out a groan as she rubs the already sore muscles in her back out. "Okay." She whispers to herself. She releases the stretch and then looks over at Jorrvaskr with a frown.

She barely made it down the stairs without falling, how is she supposed to carry the shield into Jorrvaskr and then look around for Aela? There had to be some easier way to do this. She looks down at the shield with another sigh. "Hey, genius!" She jumps and looks to see Vilkas sitting on the ground across the training yard with his back against the stone wall. He was looking at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

She lifts an eyebrow up at him. "There's a strap on the back of the shield that you put across your shoulder so you can carry it on your back!" He instructs her with a loud, irritated voice. "Really?" She wonders to herself quietly while flipping the shield over and like Vilkas said, there was a strap. "How am I supposed to get this on my back though..." She wonders out loud to herself. She taps her chin with her index finger while examining the shield, trying to figure it out.

 _'Does she seriously not know?'_ Vilkas thinks to himself as he watches her try to throw it over her shoulder. He watches her lose grip and drop the shield on the ground, it makes a loud noise that causes Vilkas to wince. He then lets out a sigh and gets up off the ground to head over to her and help. He didn't want to help her but he knew that she wouldn't be able to get it if he didn't and he also didn't want her ruining something else.

"Here let me see it." Vilkas holds out his hand towards the shield. Hope turns to him and raises an eyebrow up at him. "Let me help." He motions his hand out again getting slightly irritated at her hesitation. "I don't need your help." She turns her nose up at him and then turns her whole body around so that her back faces him. He scoffs at her rudeness and walks around to her front. "Just let me help dammit!" He shouts.

"I said I don't need your help, now go away!" She shouts back at him while turning again, keeping the shield from him. "You obviously do, you look like you just ran away from a cave bear and all you did was walk down the stairs!" He angrily motions a hand towards the large set of stone stairs. "I can do it!" She angrily replies while throwing the shield over her shoulder and like before, she loses grip of it and it drops to the ground hard. Vilkas winces from the loud clang and then glares at her.

"Hmm..." She looks down at the shield with a hand on her chin. "Oh for the love of." Vilkas rolls his eyes and lets out an irritable sigh. He quickly grabs the shield up off the ground before she can get at it. "Turn around." He instructs her, still irritable. She furrows her eyebrows down at him but finally, does what he says. "These types of shields are normally heavy, even for those who have built up their muscles to carry them. So, to make journeys easier, they are built with a strap to go around your chest so you can carry them on your back. It'll still be heavy but it'll be easier." He explains as he unfastens the strap on the shield.

Once the strap is undone he then reaches around Hope to wrap the strap around her chest. He can feel her slightly tense up when his arms go around her, he doesn't blame her for being uncomfortable. He was uncomfortable as well, he just met this girl so he wasn't exactly thrilled to be this close to her. At least the sensible part of him, he was a normal man after all and he did admit that Hope's appearance was appealing even though she's daft and he's already decided that he wasn't going to like her.

Vilkas holds the shield in place on her back while carefully moving to her front. Once he's fully in front of Hope, he lets go of the shield and quickly fastens the straps together across her chest. "There." He takes a step back from her to examine it. Hope moves the straps around a bit so she's more comfortable. He sees a small smile form on her face once she realizes how much easier it was to carry it now.

Vilkas can't help but feel slightly proud of himself. Hope holds onto the part of the strap going across her chest for assurance that it won't fall. He was right, it was still heavy but it was much easier to carry now but with all of its weight now on her back, her back muscles were quickly becoming tired. She looks to Vilkas who was standing there and looking like he was waiting for a thank you.

She furrows her eyebrows down at him and then looks to the side. "Thanks." She says in a mumble. Vilkas scoffs a little at the forced thank you. Without another word she walks past him as quick as she can, trying to hurry to Jorrvaskr to find Aela and get rid of this heavy shield. She only takes a few steps away from Vilkas before suddenly stopping.

Hope just stands there looking at the ground trying to think if she should really say it. Vilkas crosses his arms over his chest as he raises an eyebrow at her. She slightly turns her body so she can look at Vilkas. "Sorry about earlier." She finally speaks. Vilkas's eyebrows shot up as he is completely surprised by the apology. She didn't seem like someone who could do that easily and he can see it on her face that she didn't want to.

"Well." He clears his throat while looking to the side. "Just don't do it again." Is all he says. Her mouth falls open as her eyebrows knit together with bewilderment. _'What an ass!'_ She quickly turns back around and storms off from him. _'I really hate that guy.'_

When she enters Jorrvaskr, she sees that the Companions that were outside were now inside. She saw a couple of them going over a map and argueing about directions and then she saw the others were either eating or having a little drink. She can see Ria sitting at the large table having a small lunch, she feels relieved to see her.

"Hey Ria." She quickly walks over to her. "Hm?" Ria looks at her and once she sees who it is, she smiles. "Hey there!" She speaks with the same happy tone as she did before. "Do you know where I can find Aela?" She asks in a hurry. She really wants to get this heavy shield off her back. "Hmm..let me think for a moment." Ria looks down at the table with her index finger tapping on the side of her chin.

Hope can't help but feel a little impatient as the muscles on her back start to ache. "Oh!" Ria quickly looks back up at Hope with a smile. "The last time I saw her, she was heading to her room with Skjor!" "Great, where's her room?" Hope quickly asks her. "Just go down the stairs and down the hallway, then turn left and just a few feet there will be two doors but hers is on the left." Ria directs her by drawing in the air with her index finger. It would appear that she was drawing an invisible map.

Luckily for Hope, it wasn't a big place and she knew where Ria was talking about. "Thanks Ria." She gives her a quick smile and then turns around heading for the stairs. "No problem!" Ria waves to her and then watches her descend into the stairs. "Hmm..I should really ask her what her name is when I see her again." Ria mumbles to herself while picking up a piece of bread off of her plate.

Hope carefully walks down the small set of stairs. When she reaches the bottom of them, she lets out a small relieved sigh. "Okay, just a little farther to go." She quietly tells herself. She starts to walk down the hallway. As she walks, she passes a long table that is against the right wall of the hall. On it was a few plates of food and sitting in one of the chairs was another Companions.

When she passes by she catches his eye. He looks at her with furrowed eyebrows not recongizing her. She slightly looks at him when she passes and kind of recognizes him from his long hair and large structure, but she doesn't really pay him any attention. She's just wanting to get this shield off her back, maybe later she'll introduce herself.

She finally reaches the small left hallway that breaks off from the main hallway. She steps to the left door and can hear muffled talking. Ria did say that Skjor was with her and if she remembers right he's the grumpy Companion. She lets out a big, tired breath of air and then knocks on the door a few times. The voices quiet down. "Come in!" She hears a woman shout.

She grabs the door handle and slowly pushes the door open. Inside was Skjor and a familiar red haired woman. She's the one she saw in the marketplace. Hope can't help but feel slightly nervous as the tall, busty woman before her stares her down and examines her curiously. "Uhm, I have you're shield." She speaks quickly while unstrapping the large shield from her back. "Ah good!" Aela approaches her with a smile and takes the shield from her. "I've been waiting for this for quite some time." She examines the shield keeping the smile on her face.

She's able to hold the shield up with ease to examine it. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at the muscles flexing in her arm as she moves the shield around. Aela looks back at Hope and furrows her eyebrows. "Hold a moment." Aela lowers the shield and examines Hope some more. "Are you new here?" She asks keeping her eyebrows furrowed. "She's the one I told you about, the one from the training yard with Vilkas." Skjor speaks before Hope can.

Aela looks at Skjor and then looks back at Hope with laughter escaping her. "Ah yes!" She laughs some more. "I hear you really set him a flame out there." She gives Hope a humorous smile and then sets the shield down against the stand next to her bed. "Tell me something." Aela stands back up straight and crosses her arms over her breasts. "If you were to really fight with Vilkas, do you think you could take him?" She asks with a small tilt to her head.

Hope quickly shakes her head. "I don't think so, at least not right now." She slightly looks away while rubbing the back of her neck. "Honesty, good." Aela smiles at her more. "Do you know where you sleep yet welp?" Skjor cuts in. Hope looks at him seeing he had the same grumpy frown on his face from before. She only shakes her head in response. "We'll have Farkas show you, I'm pretty sure I saw him in the hall earlier." Aela looks over to Skjor.

Skjor walks over to the open door and pokes his head out. "Hey Farkas!" He shouts into the hallway. Hope can hear something slide out in the hall and then she hears hurried footsteps coming their way. Then before she knew it, the same young man from just a bit ago stands in front of the door way. He and Hope both look at each other at the same time.

Now that she actually has a good view of him, she recognizes him. The long black hair and large muscles in his arms is what makes her remember him from the marketplace. He finally moves his eyes from her to Skjor and Aela. "Did you call me?" He asks. "Of course we did ice brain, who else?" She slightly furrows her eyebrows down at him. He quickly looks away and rubs the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.

"Show the new blood here where the quarters are." Skjor nudges his head towards Hope. Farkas's eyes fall on her again and when they do she gives him a quick, nervous smile. "New blood?" He asks quietly. She isn't sure who exactly he's asking but she can see the realization in his eyes to why he didn't recognize her before.

"Oh, hello." He quickly speaks breaking the silence. "Come on, this way." He instructs her as he starts to walk away. She quickly follows after him. "So, Farkas I take it?" She asks trying to keep them from falling into awkward silence. "That's right." He slightly looks back at her. She gives him a smile, as she does his eyes become wide and then he quickly turns his face back forward. She raises an eyebrow at him. _'Shy one huh? That's different.'_ She thinks to herself with another smile.

"So, what's your name?" He finally asks while clearing his throat. "Hope." She answers. "Hope huh? That's different, but I like it." He replies. "Anyways." He clears his throat again. "The quarters are up here, you just pick a bed and fall into it." He starts to explain. "To be honest it's good to see a new face around here, but being a Companion, it's a tough life so I hope we keep you." He explains more as he stops in front of the open door way she saw when she first came down here.

She takes a few steps into the room and looks around. "Don't worry about cleaning up or anything, Tilma usually does that and she also cooks." He explains more while watching Hope examine the room. "Good to know." She replies and then turns towards Farkas, quickly meeting his eyes. She sees that he has the same icey blue eyes that Vilkas does and she can also see that they both wore the same warrior markings around their eyes.

They actually looked really similar except that Farkas's hair was darker and his muscles were bigger than Vilkas's. She also noticed the height difference between them both back when she first saw them in the marketplace. _'Siblings perhaps?'_ She wonders to herself. Farkas clears his throat uncomfortably and that makes Hope realize that she's done it again. If she keeps it up she'll make everyone so uncomfortable here that no one will want to be around her and she didn't that. Except for Vilkas, he can stay away.

She quickly gives him a smile trying to take away the awkwardness but for some reason he looks away from her again. She lets out a small sigh deciding to give up. "Thanks for showing me the way here." She speaks with another sigh while turning around to look at the room again.

She can hear Farkas shuffle around a bit behind her but he doesn't walk away yet. He clears his throat again. "Just so you know, you're training will probably start tomorrow." He speaks quickly. "Really?" She turns back around fast with an excited smile spreading on her face. He's a little surprised by it, most newcomers hated the training part. He nods. "They'll probably have you fitted for armor first and then see what fighting style works best for you." He explains.

Her smile grows as a blush of delight appears on her face. "Armor? Really? Already?" She asks him quickly taking a step towards him. He raises his eyebrows up at her, surprised at her excitement. "Y-yeah." He nods. She couldn't wait. "I wonder what kind of armor I'll get." She starts looking down at the lower part of her body and then at her arms, imagining it. Farkas watches her with a small, crooked smile on his face.

He waits a moment longer, seeing if she had any more questions. When it seemed like she didn't he turned and started to walk towards the stairs that led into the main hall. "Everyone is either eating or training right now, I'm sure they're eager to meet you." He stops and turns around to look at her one more time. "Whenever you're ready just come on up." He nudges his head towards the door at the top of the stairs and then walks away to leave the hallway.

She watches him walk up the stairs and out the door. When he's gone and she's completely alone in the hall, she slowly reaches up to her chest and grabs her mothers necklace. She stands there with a smile while rubbing the gem in the necklace with her index finger. _'I'm finally here, I'm finally doing what I've always dreamed of doing, it almost doesn't seem real.'_ She closes her eyes and grips the necklace in her fist now. _'I just hope they're okay...and that they understand...'_ An image of her family comes to her mind and she can't help but feel sad. She will always feel sad from the way she left but that couldn't be helped now. Now she was here and she was staying here. This was her new beginning and she couldn't wait to get it started.


	5. Chapter 5

Vilkas cleans up the training yard a bit before heading inside for lunch. When he's finished he starts walking back towards Jorrvaskr, but something catches his eye and stops him. On the ground against one of the pillars he sees a bag. He furrows his eyebrows while staring at it and trying to think of who it belongs to.

Suddenly an image of Hope appears in his mind with the bag on her back. He lets out an annoyed sigh while bowing his head with his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. _'This girl...'_ He sighs again. She's just arrived at Jorrvaskr and she has already become a nuisance for Vilkas. If she forgets such a simple thing like her belongings, how can she possibly become a Companion?

Vilkas removes his hand from his face and looks back at the bag. He stares at it for a moment. "Eh." He waves a hand at it and then walks past it, heading for the doors to Jorrvaskr. It wasn't his problem. He barely makes it halfway to the doors and then stops. He stands there for a moment, just looking down at the ground. He slightly turns himself to look back at the bag. He furrows his eyebrows down at it again while he just thinks to himself. Finally after a little while, he lets out an irritated groan and storms back over to the bag. He grabs the bag up rough like and then storms back towards Jorrvaskr mumbling to himself.

Hope pokes her head up from halfway up the stairs to look out at the main hall. She sees pretty much all of the Companions she saw earlier sitting at the table eating. She can't help but feel nervous as she looks out at all of the unfamiliar faces. Well not all, she can see Farkas sitting in one of the chairs at the large table eating and then she sees Ria is still at the table, and there's an open chair next to her. She feels a little relieved as she walks up the rest of the stairs and makes her way to Ria.

Ria can hear footsteps approaching her so she looks over and smiles seeing Hope. "Did you find Aela?" She asks with a smile. "I did." Hope replies with a nod and a smile of her own. "Mind if I sit next to you?" She asks Ria nervously. Ria nods, keeping a smile on her face. Hope feels relieved again as she takes a seat in the empty chair. "I'm glad you were able to join us!" Ria said happily as she grabs more food to put on her plate.

Hope nods with a smile on her face. "I told you they would take you in." Said Ria again as she cuts into some meat. Another smile takes place on Hopes face as she looks down at the table. Without thinking she reaches up to her chest again and grabs the necklace, holding it in a clenched hand. "Oh hey, meant to ask, what's your-" Ria is cut off by a door opening and slamming shut. They both jump, not expecting it.

"Hey you." Hope furrows her eyebrows at the familiar voice behind her. She hears a few steps coming towards her and then she can feel him stop right behind her. _'What could he possibly want now?'_ She turns around in her chair and looks up at Vilkas, who was standing over her with the same annoyed expression on his face that she had on hers. Vilkas holds up her bag and she raises her eyebrows up at it. She's completley forgotten about that.

"You forgot this outside." He tells her while dropping the bag over her head and into her lap. She quickly grabs it before it can bounce onto the floor. She looks back up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. There was no need for him to give it to her like that. He stands there staring at her with his arms cross, again it looks like he's waiting for a thank you. "Hmph." She quickly turns her nose up at him and then completely turns around so that all he can see is the back of her head.

She can hear him scoff and then finally walk away from her. "Ass." She mumbles under her breath. Vilkas's ears twitch when she does and he stops, turning to scowl at her. She can feel his eyes on her, she slightly turns her head to where he is and raises an eyebrow up at him. "Uhm." Ria clears her throat. Hope looks at her, now with an eyebrow raised at her. "He has very good hearing." She tells her with an uncomfortable smile.

 _'Oh.'_ Hope looks back up at Vilkas, who was still looking at her with a mean scowl on his face. _'Good.'_ She quickly turns away from Vilkas again, ignoring him now. Vilkas scoffs again and then turns around heading over to where Farkas was sitting. "Well." Ria cleared her throat again. "That was tense." She lets out a small chuckle but it was an uncomfortable awkward chuckle. Hope gives Ria an apologetic smile and then slightly moves her eyes back to Vilkas.

He is now sitting next to Farkas and they're both already talking to each other, quietly. She examines them both closely. Before she knew they resembeld each other but now that they were sitting next to each other, it was obvious they were related. "Hey." She nudges Ria a bit with her arm. Ria looks at her with a mouth full of food. "Are they related?" She asks while shielding a pointed finger at them behind a mug.

Ria looks over at them and then looks back to Hope with a nod. "They're twins." She answers her. Hope lifts her eyebrows up, surprised by that. She knew they looked a lot a like but it still surprised her to know that they were twins. "Twins huh?" She speaks softly while staring at them. Her heart suddenly sinks and creates an aching pain all through out her chest.

 _ **SLAM!**_ The sudden loud noise next to Hope makes her and everyone else in the room nearly jump out of their seats. She quickly looks over and standing next to her is another Companion. He has his hand placed flat on the table close to Hope. It would appear he slammed it down on the table to get her attention. She looks up at him and on his face is a crooked smile. "So I hear you're the latest recruit!" He speaks loudly as he pulls the chair out next to her and plants himself in it.

She recognized his voice from before when she first walked into Jorrvaskr. He was the one that sounded drunk and right now, he still sounded drunk. Maybe that was just how he acted all the time? She watches him grab a big mug and then a bottle of ale. He pours the ale into the mug sloppy like, she can see the honey colored liquid splash from the mug and onto the table. She raises an eyebrow up at the mug and then up at him.

"Names Torvrar!" He speaks loudly again. His loud voice makes her cringe. He takes a big gulp of his ale and then sets his mug down while wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. He lets out a content sigh and then fully looks at her, showing Hope his messy face. Dirt decorates his face and beard, he looks like he'd been training or working all day but she doesn't remember seeing him do either.

He squints his eyes at her and then brings his hand up to his beard to scratch it. "You know, you look familiar." He furrows his eyebrows down at her. She raises an eyebrow up at him. "Hmm..." He leans in towards her for a closer look. She scoots away from him a bit feeling a little crowded. "Ah! I know!" He snaps his fingers remembering it. "Have you ever been to Rorikstead?" He asks with a grin.

She becomes tense and clenches her fists tightly in her lap. She stares at him for a moment and then, it comes to her. She remembers him. He once stopped by the Inn in Rorikstead and she remembers him trying to get handsy with her when she passed by his table with drinks. "Nope, you must have me confused with someone else." She quickly looks away from him trying to hide her tightening jaw. "No, no, no. Even I couldn't forget a face like yours! No matter how much drink I have in me!" He lifts his mug in the air for a quick second and when he lowers it, he grins at her.

She keeps her face away from him while rapidly drumming her fingers on her legs. "Like I said, you have me confused with somebody else because I've never been to Rorikstead." She replies quickly. "No, no, no!" He sets his mug back down on the table rather loudly. "I'm pretty sure you-" Before he can finish that sentence, Hope knees the table hard so that his mug falls and spills all over him. "Ah dammit!" He yells as he quickly gets up from his seat. "Oops, sorry. It must of been a twitch or something." She fake apologizes.

Hope goes a head and gets up to help Torvrar clean up the spilled ale. It was her fault after all and she did feel slightly bad but it was the only way to get him to shut up. She had no reason to hide where she was from but she felt like nobody needed to know. Like she's decided before, the girl from Rorikstead no longer exists because this is a new beginning and she is a new girl.

"Oh that's alright, I get those kinds of twitches all the time when I haven't had my drink yet!" He laughs out loudly while wiping the ale off of his cloths. As Hope wipes up the spilled ale on the table she can feel eyes on her. She lifts her eyes up and it was Vilkas who was staring at her. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and he was eyeing her suspiciously. She furrows her eyebrows down at him giving him a mean look and then looks back down to continue to clean up the mess she's made.

"So tell me then." Torvrar begins. "If you're sure that you're not who I think you are, then tell me your name." He asks while crossing his arms over his damp cloths. Hope finishes up cleaning and then sets the rag down to the side. "My name is Hope." She tells him while standing up straight and fully looking at him. "Hope!?" He's loud and shocked by her name.

She raises an eyebrow up at him for a moment but then quickly gives him a smile while placing both hands firmly on her hips. "That's right! Because you're going to HOPE I show up when you're in battle!" She just can't help herself. "HA!" Vilkas's loud sarcastic laugh makes her cringe. She turns around to him with an annoyed expression on her face. "Something funny?" She asks through clenched teeth.

"I'm just thinking that's funny because if I were in battle. I would HOPE you don't show up." He smirks pleased with that comment. "Oh how clever! Did you wreck your brain to come up with that?" She raises her eyebrows in sarcastic concern. Vilkas's smirk turns into an annoyed sneer. Now it's her turn to smirk, it would seem that Vilkas didn't have anything else to say in response to that. "Well, this is uncomfortable!" Torvrar laughs loudly again but there's a hint of discomfort in it.

Vilkas and Hope both look at him and that's when they both realize the whole room was staring at them in uncomfortable silence. "Look what you've done. You've made everybody uncomfortable." Vilkas quickly turns the blame on her. "Me? You're the one who started it with your stupid little comment!" She crosses her arms and gives him a mean look. He gives her a mean look right back.

"Seriously?" Skjor's loud grumpy voice makes everybody jump. Vilkas and Hope both look at the same time and they see that Skjor and Aela have finally decided to join everyone up stairs. "You haven't even been here for a full day yet and you've already made an enemy." Skjor points out as he looks at them both. While Skjor is bothered and annoyed by it, Aela can't help but be amused. "I think enemy isn't the right word for them." Said Aela as she crosses her arms.

"Oh?" Skjor raises an eyebrow up at her, curious to what she has to say about it. "The word I would use for them would be..." She places a finger on her chin while looking to Vilkas and Hope with a smirk. "Lovers in progress!" She takes the finger off her chin and raises it up in the air as if she had just come up with the answer. "No way!" Vilkas and Hope both shout at the same time making everybody look at them again.

They both glance at each other, then sneer and look away from each other at the same time. "See." Aela points at them both with her thumb while grinning at Skjor. Skjor lets out a small chuckle as he starts to walk over to the table to take his usual seat with Aela walking behind him. Hope lets out an irritated puff of air as she sits back down. "Yep! Officially uncomfortable!" Torvrar speaks loudly again as he pours himself a new cup of ale.

Hope glances at him and then looks down at the empty plate in front of her. She can feel eyes on her and for a moment she gets annoyed because she thinks it's Vilkas again. She slightly looks up at him but sees that he has his head turned towards his brother and they're both speaking among themselves again. She lifts an eyebrow up and starts to look around the room and then sees across the table, a familiar woman was glaring at her.

She remembers this woman from when she first arrived at Jorrvaskr, she was the one fighting the Dark Elf. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at the glaring woman making her scowl and look away. "Hey." Hope leans towards Ria a bit, keeping her eyes on the woman. Ria looks at her. "Who's that?" She asks nodding her head up at the woman. "That's Njada." She answers.

"What's her problem?" Hope looks away from Njada to Ria. "What do you mean?" Ria asks. "She was just now shooting daggers at me." She explains. "Oh, she does that to everybody." Ria said with a shrug. "Why?" Hope asks lifting an eyebrow. Ria shrugs again. "I don't know, she's really not that bad when you get to know her though." Ria gives Hope a small smile before looking back down at her plate. Hope stares at Ria for a moment and then looks down at the plate in front of Ria. Her eyes widen when she sees that her plate is full of food again. _'How much can she eat?'_ She wonders to herself while becoming slightly amused.

Looking at Ria's full plate reminds Hope that she hasn't eatin anything yet. Her stomach growls a bit when she turns her head and looks at the platters full of food in front of her. She doesn't hesitate to start grabbing at the delicious looking food. First she puts a couple pieces of venison on her plate and then she grabs some bread along with a baked potato. Her mouth waters as she cuts into the first piece of venison.

"Boy you sure can eat, can't you!" Torvrar's loud voice makes her jump and stops her from taking her first bite. She lets out a small annoyed groan while turning to him. "What?" She asks with furrowed eyebrows. "Your plate is fuller than mine!" Torvrar points at her plate with his fork. She lifts an eyebrow up at him and then looks down at her plate. It was full but it was only her first plate while Ria next to her seemed to be on her third.

"Thanks for the observation." She said sarcastically while turning back towards her plate to continue eating. "I'm just saying, you keep eating like that and you won't be able to fit in any armor they give ya!" He laughs out the last part before taking another swig of his mead. The corner of her mouth twitches upward as she looks down at her food with an annoyed expression on her face. _'This guy...'_ He was almost as annoying as Vilkas, but not quite. At least, not yet.

"It's rude to point out a ladies plate Torvrar!" Ria speaks up with a mouth full of food. "Yeah? Well the same goes for you!" He shoves his arm in front of Hope so he could also point his fork at Ria."Ow!" Torvrar suddenly jumps out of his seat while grabbing at his foot. "Someone stomped on my damn foot!" He yells as he takes back his seat and rubbing his sore foot. "Whoops!" Hope giggles innocently. "That damn twitch again!" She gives Torvrar a hard punch to the arm but acts like it was supposed to be playful. "Oh..Ha ha?" Torvrar rubs his arm not sure of what to think of it.

After finishing lunch, Hope quickly wipes her mouth off with a cloth that was on the table and then gets up from her seat. "Where are you going?" Ria asks noticing her hurry. "I've got to go somewhere real quick." She gives Ria a quick smile and then heads for the back doors to leave Jorrvaskr.

When she walks outside the first thing she sees is Vilkas and Farkas training together. _'When did they come out here?'_ She wondered to herself as she watched them. She must of been so caught up in the good food that she didn't notice them finish before her and leave. Hope couldn't help but want to watch them a little. She was curious about their fighting styles and who knows, maybe she'll learn a thing or two from watching them.

She walks past a couple of tables and then takes a seat at the table closest to them. She rests her elbows on the table as she rests her chin in her hands while observing them with a small smile on her face. _'I wonder who is better at fighting...'_ She wonders to herself, eager to watch.

The two brothers were standing a few feet apart from each other on the training yard, much like how Hope and Vilkas were. Vilkas was strapping the same shield he had on earlier to his arm. "You sure you want to use a mace?" He asks his brother. "Yeah, I just want to try something different." Farkas replies while lifting a heavy mace up and down with his arm. He was gripping it tightly, trying to get used to its weight. Like Vilkas, he liked using a two handed weapon but sometimes you've gotta get out of your comfort zone.

"But a mace though? I'd rather try an axe." Vilkas said while watching Farkas. "I know you would and so would I, but that's the whole point." Farkas replies and then lowers the mace so he can look at Vilkas. "You ready?" He asks. "Ready." Vilkas raises his shield up high to cover his body. Farkas waits for a moment and then charges right for him with his mace raised high in the air.

The moment Farkas is close he swings his mace down hard on the shield. Vilkas raises the shield higher to meet the maces impact and when it hits, Vilkas has to hold on tight with his heels dug into the ground or he just might lose his footing. Vilkas raises the shield again to deflect the maces next blow and this time its hit was harder, making Vilkas take a step back. He didn't think Farkas would be any good with a mace but he was wrong, perhaps a mace was a nice change for Farkas after all.

Hope's a little surprised by how hard Farkas is making it for Vilkas to stand his ground but he was larger after all. She can see though that it wasn't sparing, it was just Farkas testing his skills out with a mace and to see him bash Vilkas with it was a bit satisfying. That wasn't the only thing she was enjoying though, she was also enjoying the way Farkas's muscles looked while he held onto the mace. With each swing his muscles would tense and show.

"Alright, I think that's good." Said Vilkas out of breath. Farkas nodded as he was also breathing hard. Hope moves her eyes to Vilkas and she can see sweat beading up on his face and running down into his armor. She can see the muscles in his neck tighten up as he puts the shield down after removing it from his arm. "Gotta say brother." Vilkas shakes his sore arm out as he stands back up straight. "You're not too bad with a mace." He gives his brother a playful smile. Farkas nods in agreement as he looks back down at the steel mace. "I think I might use it on my next job." He decides with a pleased smile.

Vilkas starts to remove the gauntlet on his sore arm to rub the tired muscles in it. When he gets the heavy gauntlet off he holds it between his arm and side. He then grabs the wrist of that arm and starts to clench and un clench his fist. "I think you nearly sprained my wrist with those hits." Vilkas said with a chuckle. Hope examines his bare forearm and can see the muscles in his arm tense every time he clenches his fist. She can't help but admire the muscular arm. She starts to wonder how muscular the rest of his body was, it was hard to tell because of the type of armor he wore.

She then sits up straight to look out at both of the brothers. They both had a natural intimidating stance that made their large structures stand out. She starts to feel herself blush as she observes them and admires them. She starts to examine their strong and firm jaw line, her eyes then go to their smiles. They were both very handsome indeed and for a moment, she's completely forgotten the hatred she's decided to have for Vilkas.

"Hm?" Vilkas can feel eyes on him and when he turns his head, he sees Hope sitting there, just staring at them. Farkas follows Vilkas's eyes and becomes tense when he sees her. "What's she doing?" Vilkas asks under his breath. "Watching maybe?" Farkas answers while uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. "You notice how she'll just stare?" Vilkas asks under his breath again. "I don't think she realizes it when she does though." Farkas replies quietly.

"Hey!" Vilkas shouts to her making her jump and stumble out of her chair. They both watch her nearly trip over her own feet and knock the chair down behind her along with a filled pitcher on the table. She quickly grabs the pitcher and sits it back up before more can spill out of it. They both see her face turn red and Vilkas can't help but let a small chuckle escape. "What are you doing?" He asks while taking a few steps towards her.

She stands up straight and clears her throat trying to hide the embarrassment. "I was just watching..." She answers. "Obviously." Vilkas crosses his arms. "But why?" He asks again with a lifted eyebrow. She looks to the side away from him with the blush remaining on her face. "I was just watching you train thinking I might be able to learn something..." She answers again keeping her eyes away from them. "I guess I must of spaced out..." She admits in an embarrassed low voice.

"Oh." Vilkas lifts his eyebrows a little surprised. "I guess you can watch if you want..." Vilkas rubs the back of his neck feeling a little awkward. "No! No that's fine!" She quickly straightens up and starts to walk away. "I've got somewhere to be!" She yells continuing to walk away to hide her burning red face. Vilkas watches her in confusion and then looks back at Farkas who just shrugs.

Hope walks down the set of stairs leading away from Jorrvaskr with a blush still on her face. _'I have got to stop doing that.'_ She thinks to herself with a deep sigh. She walks past a couple of guards as she heads for the stairs that lead to the marketplace. She's decided to finally head to Anoriath to tell him the good news.

When she reaches the top of the stairs she looks out on the marketplace and sees Anoriath at his stand serving a customer. She can't help but already smile with excitement as she heads down the stairs to him. "There you go! Have a good day!" Anoriath said pleasantly to a customer that was just leaving. "Anoriath!" He turns to the familiar voice and smiles when he sees Hope.

"Hey! I was wondering when you would come by. How'd it go?" He asks with a smile on his face. Hope returns the smile and then places both hands on her hips as she tilts her head up proudly. "You're looking at the newest member of the Companions!" She happily tells him with a bigger smile on her face. "Aha!" He laughs with joy as he walks around his stand to her. "What did I tell you! I knew they would take you in!" He exclaims happily with both arms spread out wide. She lowers her hands off of her hips and looks back at him with the same happy smile on her face.

"I get fitted for armor tomorrow and I also start my training." She tells him with excitement showing in her eyes. "Congratulations my friend!" Anoriath places a hand on her shoulder and gives it a friendly squeeze. "Gotta say though, I was kind of hoping you would come work for us." He admits while rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Hope gives him a smile with apologetic eyes. "I may not work for you but maybe you too can help me with my training?" His lifts both eyebrows at her. "You know, like maybe on my free time I can still go hunting with you. Might be useful since I'm wanting to become an adventurer and all." She says with a shrug and a smile.

Anoriath returns the smile and gives her a nod. "I'd like that." He tells her with a different kind of smile this time. She has to stare at him for a moment to catch the meaning behind the smile, that's when she feels her face heat up. _'Oh..didn't mean it like that...'_ She clears her throat while taking a step away from him but she keeps a smile on her face so he doesn't catch on that he made her feel a little awkward.

"By the way." She quickly changes the subject. "I'm going by Hope now. Just thought I'd let you know so when you hear people call me that, you won't get confused." She tells him. "Why?" He asks with confused furrowed eyebrows. "Because..." She tries to think of an excuse while rubbing the back of her neck. She felt like her real reason would sound stupid. "Do you not like your name or something? I think you have a pretty name." Anoriath smiles at her weird again. _'Oh great.'_ Is all she can think when she sees that smile again.

She clears her throat again. "It's not that, I just. I just want to be someone different now." She explains with a smile. "Oh I see." He understood with a nod. "Well anyways, I should probably get back." She points in the direction of Jorrvaskr with her thumb letting out an awkard chuckle. "Alright, "Hope"." He quotes her name with his fingers. "Come by the shop after hours sometime soon and I'll take you out for some midnight hunting." He gives her a smile and a small wink before returning to his place behind the stand. She gives him a small giggle and then hurries off.

"That was weird..." She mumbles to herself while walking back up the steps that leave the marketplace. She quickly approaches the large set of stairs leading up to Jorrvaskr but before she takes the first step. She stops, and just looks up at the great building. As she stares at it an excited smile forms on her face. _'Starting tomorrow is my training but also starting tomorrow, is my true path.'_


	6. Chapter 6

Morning of the next day came rather slow for Hope. She was too excited to get any sleep and also, the beds were harder than boards, but at the moment she didn't care as she ignored her sore back while sitting at the table and looking down at the food she just put on her plate. She knew she needed to eat something so she would have the energy for her first day of training, but she just couldn't bring herself to eat. She was so nervous that she felt like if she ate anything she would throw it up.

She taps her fingers rapidly on her knees while examining the boiled eggs and grilled leeks in front of her. "Hey there!" Ria's friendly voice makes Hope jump in her seat. "Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you!" Ria apologizes with a small giggle while taking a seat next to her. "Oh, it's okay! I just spaced out is all." She replied with a smile. "So, you ready for your first day of training?" Ria asks as she grabs several different types of food to put on her plate.

Hope watches her for a moment and then looks back down at her plate. "Not really..." She admits with a nervous smile. She was excited for it but she was so nervous she wasn't sure she was going to be able to do it. "Oh sure you are!" Ria gives her a confident smile. "It's okay to be nervous though, gods know I was nervous my first day." She says while pulling apart some bread. "But I'm confident you'll get through it!" She gives Hope a small pat to the shoulder and then starts to eat her food.

"You should eat something though." Ria advised as she noticed Hope's untouched food. "They train you hard here, so if you have an empty stomach you're most likely going to pass out." She explains with a mouth full of food. Hope nods in agreement and picks up her fork to eat her breakfast.

"So, who's going to train the new blood?" Farkas asks after taking a bite of his boiled egg. He, Vilkas, and Kodlak were all sitting at the table in the lower part of Jorrvasker. They usually ate their breakfast together, almost like a father and his children would. "I've decided to have Aela train her." Kodlak answers and then takes a drink of his water. "Aela?" Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down. "What? You want to train her?" Kodlak asks with a smile and lifted eyebrow.

"No, gods no." Vilkas answers with shaking his head. He would rather train Torvrar all over again than her. "I'm just wondering why you picked Aela. I thought you would pick Farkas." Vilkas nudges his head towards his brother while taking a bite out of some bread. "I was going to but in the end, I decided that Aela would be best for her. I have a feeling they both will share a fighting style." Kodlak explains with a small smile on his face.

Hope takes the last piece of bread she has and then pops it in her mouth. She grabs her cup of water to wash it down. She hears a door shut and then approaching footsteps. She looks up and it is Aela that approached her. "You ready whelp?" She asks while crossing her arms. "Huh?" Hope knits her eyebrows with confusion. "Your training, are you ready for your training?" She asks more clearly. "Oh, I guess so." Hope quickly gets up from her chair to stand in front of Aela.

Aela eye balls her for a moment and then gives her a crooked smile. "Come on." She nudges her head to the door and then starts to walk towards it. Hope quickly follows after her. They're both greeted by the morning chilly air, Hope shivers while Aela acts like she doesn't feel a thing. As they walk to the training yard, Hope examines Aela's armor and notices that it shows a lot of skin. _'How is she not cold? Is it something you just get used to?'_ She wonders to herself.

Aela stops in the middle of the training yard making Hope come to a quick stop. She turns around to examine Hope again. She stands there rather uncomfortably, having Aela eye ball her was making her feel awkward. Now she knows how she made all the others feel. "Okay, follow me." Aela finally speaks as she starts to walk. Hope lifts an eyebrow at her while following her. She leads them both up the giant set of stairs that lead up to the forge.

Aela stops at the top step and smiles when she sees Eorlund. "Eorlund!" She calls to him as she approaches him with Hope right behind her. Eorlund looks up from his work and then gives them both a smile. "Something I can do for you?" He asks while standing up and watching them approach him. "We need to get Hope here fitted for armor." She explains while looking back at Hope with a small smile. Eorlund looks at Aela and then at Hope. "I wondered when you'd come to me for that." He said while walking around Aela to Hope.

"So what are we thinking?" Eorlund asks while examining Hope. Hope just stands there for a moment not realizing that he was talking to her. She only realizes it when he looks at her face and raises his eyebrows at her. "Oh!" She quickly looks to Aela and then back to Eorlund. "Uhm..I'm not really sure. I've never had armor before..." She admits while rubbing the back of her neck. "Should've known." Aela said as she rubbed her chin and stared at Hope for a moment.

"Go ahead and fit her for some regular iron armor." Aela tells Eorlund as she looks back to him. "Iron armor?" Hope questions with a raised eyebrow. Aela nods. "It's a good beginners armor, it's not too heavy and not too light. It'll do till you figure out what type of armor best suits your fighting style, that is, when we find out what your style is of course." She explains. "Come here girl, stand here." Eorlund directs Hope to step away from Aela and stand right in front of him.

She does as she is instructed. Eorlund grabs her arms and pushes them to her sides as he moves his head side to side to get a good view of her. She lifts an eyebrow up at him as he does so. He then grabs her arms and lifts them up and makes her holds them out so he can look at her sides. She couldn't help but become tense, it was just a bit uncomfortable. "I think I might have one in your size." Eorlund finally lets go of her arms and then turns around to walk back to his forge. She lets out a small relieved sigh as she puts her arms back down.

Aela can't help but chuckle at Hope, she remembers when she had to get fitted for armor for the first time but unlike Hope, she knew what she wanted right off the bat. It takes Eorlund a moment to gather everything up but not long because she soon sees him walking back over to her. He stops in front of her and holds out the armor to her, it was folded together neatly with the iron chest piece sitting on top.

She takes it into her arms and can't help but smile to herself as she looks at the armor. "If it doesn't fit just bring it back to me, I can re-size it for you easily." He said while shifting his eyes down at the armor and then back at her. She nods showing him she understands. Eorlund gives her a small smile and then a hard friendly pat to her arm. "Good luck." He gives her a quick friendly wink and then turns around to walk back to his forge.

"Go ahead and go try on the armor, if it fits well meet me back at the training yard." Aela explains with a nudge to her head in the direction of the training field. Hope nods and then walks away to do as she's told. She quickly makes her way down the stairs, eager to get to Jorrvaskr to put on her armor. The smile stays on her face as she hopes it fits her. She walks around the building and can hear quiet arguing, She looks up to see Njada and the Dark Elf she was fighting yesterday walking away from Jorrvaskr in the opposite direction of her. The Dark Elf was holding up a map and pointing to it with aggravation all over face, she saw Njada throw up her arms in anger continuing to argue. It would appear that they were argueing about direction.

 _'I wonder when I'll get to do jobs...'_ She wonders to herself as she continues to watch them walk away. She still doesn't know what the Dark Elf man's name is, in fact he's the only one she doesn't know yet. _'I'll have to ask him his name later.'_ She decides while turning to Jorrvaskr, continuing to walk back to it.

When she enters Jorrvaskr the first thing she sees is Ria speaking to Vilkas. "You said you wanted to start training with a two handed sword?" He asks with his arms crossed. "That's right." Ria nods with a smile. "My last job I realized I couldn't move around like I wanted with the shield strapped to my arm." She said while grabbing the arm she wears the shield on. "So I was just hoping you could show me the ropes?" She gives him a hopeful smile. Vilkas lifts an eyebrow at her and just stares at for a moment, thinking about it.

"Alright fine." He uncrosses his arms. "Go ready yourself and meet me at the training yard." He instructs her while giving her a small pat to the back as he walks past her. He passes Hope on his way to the back doors and when he does, he looks at her for a moment and she at him. Then at the same time, they both scowl at each other and look back away from one another. Ria turns to head for the same door but stops when she sees Hope and then gives her the usual kind smile.

"Is that your new armor?" She asks while walking towards her. Hope gives her an excited smile and nod. "Iron armor huh?" Ria says while looking down at the iron chest piece. Hope nods. "I was told it's good beginners armor." She explains. Ria smiles and nods. "It is! That's the kind of armor I started with when I started training!" She said with a smile. "In fact, that really wasn't that long ago." Ria giggles as she rubs the back of her neck. "Oh?" Hope asks with an eyebrow raised. Ria nods again. "I just now started doing small jobs, that's what they give you at first when you've proven you're ready." She explains. "So you're still fairly new here then?" Hope asks with both eyebrows raised.

"That's right! I was the newest member before you joined." Ria answers with another smile. Hope stares at Ria for a moment thinking. "So." She starts while slowly looking down at the ground. "How long did you have to train before you started doing jobs?" She asks looking back up at her. "Well once I figured out what I wanted to work with, it wasn't long till they thought I was good enough for small jobs." Ria explains while looking up with a finger placed on her chin.

"But." Ria lets out a sigh as she looks back at Hope and lowering her finger from her face. "Turns out what I chose in the beginning isn't really for me so, back to the training field I go." Ria shrugs with a small giggle. "Oh, so that's what you're talking to Vilkas about." Hope realizes. Ria nods in response. "I'm not sure why, but I feel like a two handed weapon would suit me better." She explains while keeping the same smile on her face. Hope returns the smile and understands her with a nod. She gets it.

She looks down at the armor in her arms and starts to wonder what exactly she'll use in the future. The only weapon she's used is the sword that Anoriath and his brother gave her but she only used it once, on Vilkas. "Hey Ria." Hope quickly looks back up at her. "Would you mind helping me into this armor? I think I'm going to need help strapping on the chest piece." She tells her. "Sure!" Ria replies with another smile. Hope returns the smile and then starts to walk for the stairs with Ria behind her.

It doesn't take Hope long to figure out how to put the armor on. It was mostly cloth with some light chain mail that went over her chest. It all fit pretty well so far, now all that was left was the iron chest piece. "Okay, just hold it in place over your chest and I'll strap it around your back!" Ria instructs happily. Hope nods and does just holds the chest piece against her as Ria straps it on tightly. "Too tight?" She asks. "No, it's fine." She answers. She would rather it be a little too tight than too loose.

After the chest piece was tightly strapped on, Hope grabs her belt with her sword tied on it and quickly straps it around her waist. She was finally ready to go. She turns around to give Ria the full view and Ria gives her a thumbs up. "Yep! You look like a warrior now!" She said with a smile. Hope can't help but show an excited smile, the armor was comfortable and a good start for felt like it wasn't the one for her though, but she knew that decision was for another time. Right now, it was time to train.

Ria and Hope both quickly make their way back to the training yard knowing that they had kept their trainers waiting. When they walk outside Hope sees Vilkas pacing back and forth impatiently while holding a great sword in his hand. She then looks over to Aela seeing that she had just finished laying weapons out against the stone wall. It seemed like she didn't keep Aela waiting too long.

When they hear the door open, they both stop and look back at them both. "Finally." Vilkas mumbles to himself when he sees Ria. He then moves his eyes over to Hope and is surprised to see her in armor. He looks at the iron chest pieces strapped to her and examines the way it hugs her breasts. His eyes move down her body and he can't help but admire the way the armor hugged her sides showing off her curves.

Vilkas suddenly realizes that he is staring, he quickly moves his eyes back to her face expecting a mean glare but she wasn't paying any attention to him, she was looking out at the weapons that Aela brought out for her while putting her thick hair up into a high bun. He feels a bit relieved that she didn't catch him staring at her but someone did. "Something or maybe..someone, catch your eye?" Farkas's sudden appearance startles Vilkas making him jump a little.

Vilkas quickly looks at him and sees a small smirk on his face. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at him and then looks away towards the training dummies. "Shut up, I spaced out." He quickly tells him with a small snarl. "Yeah, sure." Farkas chuckles a little while walking away. "Sorry I kept you waiting!" Ria says to him as she runs over. Vilkas only glances at her for a moment. "It's fine, let's just get started." He said with a sigh.

"Ah good, I'm glad the armor fits you well!" Aela said to Hope as she watched her approach. Hope smiles and nods in response as she stops in front of Aela. "I've laid out some weapons here for you to try." Aela turns around to face towards the weapons. Hope takes a few steps forward so that she is standing next to Aela and so that she can see the weapons better.

Laid out against the wall was: A great sword, great battleaxe, an iron shield, a one handed war axe, and a bow with a bag full of arrows laying next to it. Hope raises her eyebrows up at the weapons, not sure of what she should try first. In all honesty though, she liked the idea of just using her sword. "Go ahead, try one." Aela tells her with a gestured hand towards the several weapons. Hope bites half of her bottom lip and then looks to Aela. "I think I just want to train in using my sword." She tells her as she pats the sword on her hip. Aela moves her eyes down to the sword and then nods.

"That's good and all but a warrior must know how to use more than one weapon." She explains as she gives her a quick pat to the back before walking towards the weapons. She stands there for a moment staring at them and then decides to pick up the shield. Aela turns back around and holds the shield out to Hope. "Try this, it's good defense especially if you're just wanting to fight with a blade." She explains more with a smile on her face.

Hope looks down at the shield and then looks back at Aela for a moment. She didn't like the idea of using a shield but she had to at least try. She understood what Aela was trying to explain to her. Aela grabs the shields handle and holds it out to Hope just like that. She's a bit surprised to see Aela hold it up with one hand like that. She makes it look like it weighs no more than a feather but Hope can see the muscles in Aela's arms tense and flex while she holds it. She's had years of training so to her, it basically was a feather.

She reaches a hand out taking the shield by the handle and the moment she has a hold on it, Aela lets go. When Aela lets go of the shield, it drops and takes Hope with it. "Oh shi-" Is all she can get out before being taken down to the ground. "AH HA HA HA HA!" Torvrar's loud laugh makes everyone jump but makes Hope cringe. She lets go of the shield and sits up on her knees, she then turns her head to where Torvrar is and gives him a mean glare. Torvrar stands just a few feet away from her in front of a practice dummy with his hands resting on his knees while laughter just spills out.

She then moves her eyes to the two people behind her, which are Vilkas and Ria. Vilkas stands there with his back facing her but by the way his shoulders were quivering, he too was laughing but he was trying to hold it back. She glances to Ria who was just standing there with an awkward smile and thumbs up, basically telling her "good try". Hope lets out an aggravated groan as she gets back up to her feet not even bothering to take the shield with her. "I don't think the shield is for me." She looks at Aela while crossing her arms. Aela can't help but chuckle as she bends over to pick up the shield. "I agree, at least for now." She stands up straight and lifts the shield up with one arm. "The more you train the more muscle you will develop and then you will find lifting the shield will be easier." She explaines as she puts the shield back down against the wall.

Hope watches her and then looks down at the rest of the weapons. She looks at the two handed weapons that are there, if she can't hold up the shield with out falling over then there is no way she can hold up one of those giant weapons. She doesn't even bother to look over the axe, she already knew that wasn't her style. So at last, her eyes fall onto the bow and arrows. She stares at them for a moment. The bow was just a simple hunting bow and the arrows laying next to it were simple iron arrows. She traced the bows curvy form with her eyes, as an image of her holding the bow up with an arrow drawn comes to her mind. In that image she looks like a ranger, a master hunter, or perhaps a stealthy warrior who strikes with quick arrows? The more she thought about it the more it intrigued her.

"I want to learn how to use the bow." She tells Aela while pointing at it. Aela turns to her with a lifted eyebrow but a smile on her face. She already predicted that is what the new blood would want to do, she had the look. "Alright." Aela turns around and picks up the bow and arrows. She turns back to Hope and gives them to her. When Hope takes the bow in her hand she traces her finger along its smooth wooden curves, she then looks back up and takes the arrows from Aela. "They go around your back, almost like a bag." Aela instructs. Hope nods and puts them on like she says.

Aela walks over to one of the targets and then backs up a few feet. "Stand here." She points to the ground. Hope does as she is told and stands on the invisible marker that Aela has placed. She looks out at the target in front of her and notices that she wasn't very far from it. "This is a beginners distance." She explains before Hope can ask. With out asking for permission Aela quickly takes the bow out of her hands while also taking a single arrow out of the bag.

"Watch how I do this." She tells her. Hope stands aside as Aela takes her place on the invisible marker. First Aela turns her body to the side while keeping her face towards the target, she then spreads her legs to where her feet are shoulder width apart with perfect balance between the two separate feet, she grasps the bows handle tightly as she knocks the arrow onto the bow string while lifting the bow up in front of her, she draws the arrow back towards her face and focuses on the target. Hope watches her chest slowly rise up and once it reaches its peak, she lets go of the arrow and in a split second the arrow lands deep into the middle of the target.

Hope blinks as she looks at the arrow with amazement in her eyes. "Now it's your turn." Aela said while holding the bow back out to Hope. Hope looks at Aela and then nods as she takes the bow back. Aela moves out of the way so that Hope can get back into the spot. "Now do exactly what I just did." Aela instructs. Like Aela, Hope first turns her body to the side but keeps her face forward. She then spreads her legs apart and lifts the bow to her face with the arrow pulled back just like Aela did. She focuses on the target for just a moment and then lets the arrow go.

The arrow quickly flys through the air and for a moment, Hope thought it would actually hit the target. But she never sees it go into the target like Aela's arrow did. She furrows her eyebrows down keeping her eyes on it. _'It should've hit by now...'_ She thought to herself as she lowered the bow down. "Hmm..." She hears Aela. She turns to look at her and she sees Aela's eyes are on the ground. Hope lifts an eyebrow up and then follows her eyes. When she sees what she is staring at a frown appears on her face. The reason Hope didn't see the arrow land on the target is because it didn't make it that far. In fact, it barely made two feet before plummeting into the ground. She stares at the butt of the arrow sticking out with furrowed eyebrows and the same frown on her face.

A quiet chuckle behind her makes her frown grow. She quickly turns around to find Vilkas also staring down at the arrow with a smirk. She sneers at him. "Aren't you supposed to be training Ria!?" Hope shouts and stomps an irritated foot. Vilkas chuckles again with a hand covering his mouth. He then clears his throat and lowers his hand to cross his arms over his chest. "I did." He moves his head over a bit so Hope can see Ria whacking a practice dummy over his shoulder. "Unlike you, she already has it down." He tilts his head with an amused smirk on his face.

Hope glares at him deeply with her cheeks flushing a light red. "Well then go do something else other than laugh at me!" She stomps her foot again. "What? Miss the show? Nah." Vilkas waves out at her. "You're a distraction." Aela steps forward. Vilkas looks at her with an eyebrow raised. "Go away." She nudges her head to the side. Vilkas stares at her for a moment and then shifts his eyes to Hope, who was still glaring at him with flushed cheeks. "Hmph, fine." He gives in while uncrossing his arms. "It'll probably get boring soon anyways." He waves another hand out towards Hope as he starts to walk away.

Hope clenches her jaw tightly as she watches him walk away. _'I really hate that guy...'_ She thinks to herself. "Alright back to it." Aela snaps Hope out of it making her quickly turn towards her. "Lets do it again." Aela points at her with her finger and then moves it in a circular motion telling her to get back into position. Hope quickly does so with an arrow pulled farther back this time. "Now, shoot." Aela tells her while watching carefully.

Hope shoots but like the first time, the arrow didn't get very far. In fact, it didn't go as far as the first one did. She frowns at the arrows sticking out of the ground again. "Hmmm...Yes I see now." Aela nods to herself with her arms crossed over her breasts. Hope looks at her with an eyebrow raised. "Let me ask something real quick." Aela starts as she walks over to the arrows in the ground to pull them out. "You didn't want to go with the shield or two handed weapons because they were too heavy and you didn't have enough muscles built up for them, correct?" She asks as she stands back up straight and turns to Hope.

Hope nods in response. "So that means you went with the bow and arrows because they are lighter, right?" She asks again with both eyebrows raised. "Mostly...yeah..." She answers. "That's your problem." Aela said with a pointed finger. Hope looks at her with confused furrowed eyebrows. "You see." She starts while turning a bit to look back at the target. "Your arrows didn't get very far because you underestimate the bow." She turns back to Hope with a small smile. "What do you mean?" Hope asks.

"What I mean is, since you think because the bow is ligher than the others, you think you won't have to put in any extra effort and that it will be an easy learn for you." She explains. Hope raises an eyebrow at her. "Well, not-" Aela puts up a quick hand to make her stop talking. "It's a foolish thought Hope." Aela continues almost sounding like she's scolding Hope. "With the bow, it's quite the opposite. In fact, the bow is a bit more difficult to learn than the others." Aela explains as she starts to circle around Hope with her arms behind her back.

"With the bow you will have to learn steadiness, patience, speed, strength, and most of all focus." Aela stops right next to Hope and looks at her. "You will also need to be dedicated." She takes a step towards Hope with a straight face and serious eyes. Hope raises her eyebrows up at Aela not sure of she means by that. "True you can have your sword at your side for when the enemy gets too close, but it will be the last resort." Aela explains. "If you are to be an archer, then you need to work to only be an archer." She said firmly.

"You mean I can't learn to use any other weapon?" Hope asks with furrowed eyebrows. "Of course you can, but it's not a good idea." Aela starts to explain. "You see, if you want to be an all hands in and go charging into the fire type of warrior, then that's fine. You can build your strength up to be able to use a two handed weapon and shield, you can also switch weapons if you like, because all you need to do with them is swing and not miss. But with a bow." She points a finger in the air as she starts to walk around Hope again. "With a bow there can only be one form, one way to hit and if you miss you are more likely to be killed." She stops behind Hope making her turn around to be able to see her.

"If you miss with a sword, you can always have the right moves and luck to be able to hit again before they can take a swing at you but with a bow, all it takes is one missed shot for the enemy to know you're there." Aela explains while placing her arms back behind her. "If you are to be an archer then you are going to be a stalker, and you can't stalk if you have several weapons tied to you banging on the wall, floor, and on each other. If you carry a bow with you then the bow needs to be all you carry, except for a dagger or sword." Aela continues to explain. "That is basically the only other skill you can learn besides the bow, which is a small one handed weapon. One you can easily contain." She shifts her eyes down at the steel sword on Hopes hip.

 _'But didn't I deliver a shield to you yesterday?'_ She wants to ask but doesn't. She starts to remember when she first saw Aela in the marketplace. She remembers the gold elven bow strapped to her back with shimmering arrows under it. She doesn't remember seeing a shield or any other type of weapons on her. _'Maybe she wants to try something different like Ria?'_ She starts to wonder but makes herself stop. That wasn't important right now and besides, Aela is a well-trained warrior. If she wants to use a shield and a bow who is she to question? Maybe someday Hope will be good enough to use two different weapons like that.

"So make your choice welp." Aela's firm voice snaps her out of it. "Do you or do you not want to be an archer?" Aela asks with her arms crossed. Hope stares at Aela for a moment and then looks down at the bow in her hand. She liked the feel of it and she liked the idea of being an archer but she wasn't sure if she wanted to stick to something that required so much dedication. Hope understands what Aela was trying to explain. If she decides to train with a bow then that is what she will spend all of her time on. She won't really be able to work with anything else because she will need to focus certain skills for the bow, but if later down the road she decides that she suddenly wants to switch to training with an axe or something then that means she will have to start completely over.

Hope purses her lips together as she continues to stare at the bow. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how right Aela was about the bow being more difficult than the others. She looks back up at Aela who was waiting paitently with a small confident smile. She almost looked like she knew what Hope was going to decide. Hope can feel others eyes on her though, she turns her head and sitting at one of the tables was Vilkas.

He sits there with his arms crossed while leaning back in the chair. He was watching with a smirk on his face like he already knew she was going to give up and choose something easier. A scowl forms on Hope's face and then she quickly turns back to Aela. "I want to be an archer." She finally decides. "Good!" Aela's smile grows as she walks over to Hope. She gives Hope a firm pat on the back and then grabs both of her shoulders to turn her around so she faces the target.

Aela spends a good portion of the morning explaining to Hope just what she needs to work on. Form, speed, strength, footing, reflexes, and a one track mind. At first Hope didn't understand what the last one meant till Aela explained it. "You have to focus on one enemy at a time, rarely will you ever come across only one enemy per room, camp, cave, or wherever. Most of the time they will be in large groups which is where speed and reflexes come in but in order for them to succeed. You must have a one track mind which means, only one enemy at a time." Aela explained to her firmly and slowly so she wouldn't miss a thing about the lesson.

"When you come across multiple enemies at a time, it's easy to get distracted by the numbers and panic. Once that panic sets in, you start shooting arrows everywhere and if you have a follower, that can be bad but even if you don't have a follower it is still bad. If you shoot arrows like that you will find yourself quickly running out and then the next thing you know, you'll be dead." Aela explained.

Hope understood what Aela was saying and it was good advice but only time will tell if it sticks with her. So now instead of working on her shots, Aela has her working on her speed and reflexes. _**CRACK!**_ The sound of bones breaking came from Hopes nose after Aela slammed her fist into her face. Hope falls on her back hard with her hand quickly covering her face. "I told you to dodge!" Aela scolded her with her hands placed on her hips.

Hope slowly rolls over so she can sit up on her knees with her hand still covering her newly broken nose. "I did!" She yells from behind her hand. "Clearly you didn't!" Aela scolds again while leaning forward a bit. "That's because I thought I was only dodging one punch not two!" She yells again while slowly getting to her feet. "That's where your reflexes are supposed to come!" Aela puts her arms down to her side and walks around to she can face Hope.

"What?! How!?" Hope looks at her frustrated and then removes her hand to look down at the blood that just pooled in her palm. "You were supposed to predict it. Always expect the unexpected in battle." Aela explains with a pointed finger at Hope. Hope lets out a painful and irritated groan as she continues to stare at the blood in her hand. Aela lets out a sigh as she takes a couple steps towards her. She takes Hope's face into her hands and lifts it up so she can look at her nose.

"It's not that bad." Aela tells her as she examines it. "Not that-not that bad?!" Hope furrows her eyebrows down at her. "Do you not see the blood on my face!?" Hope quickly points an angry finger at her broken nose. "Like I said, not that bad." Aela grabs Hope by the shoulders to turn her towards Jorrvaskr, she then starts to guide Hope towards the building while keeping her hands on her shoulders. "Let's go get it cleaned up." Aela chuckled.

When they both walk into Jorrvaskr they see that mostly everyone was sitting at the table eating lunch. Hope blinks as she looks out at them all. _'Is it lunch time already? How long have we been out there?'_ She starts to wonder but she was quickly cut off from her thoughts when Aela pushed her forward a bit. "Alright, sit here." Aela guides Hope to one of the chairs and points to it. Hope mumbles to herself as she does what she is told and takes a seat.

"I'll be right back." Aela pats Hope on the shoulder and then walks away. Hope watches her for a moment and then looks down at the table. Her body felt sore and her nose throbbed and it was all from just a few hours of training. She cringed at the thought of what the rest of the training will be. _'Maybe I should've picked something else to train with...'_ She thought to herself as she started to feel regret from her choice of the bow. "Aela really roughed you up didn't she?" Skjor's loud voice makes Hope jump and quickly look at him.

He was sitting right next to her with a mug of mead in his hand. Aela had sat her right next him and she didn't even realize it till now. Hope quickly moves her eyes away from him and back at the table giving him a nod for an answer. "You didn't expect it to be easy did you?" He asks after taking a drink out of his mug. "No." She answers keeping her eyes down at the table. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she didn't know it was going to be so hard...and painful.

Nearby snickering made Hope's eye twitch. She didn't need to look up to see who it was coming from. "I bet you thought our little session yesterday was the hardest it was going to be, didn't you?" Vilkas sits in the chair next to Skjor and he too had a mug of mead in his hand. Hope keeps her eyes down not even bothering to start an argument with him. She wasn't in the mood for it. Vilkas turns his head to look at her and when he does he's surprised by the condition of her face. She had blood running down from her nose to her chin and the bridge of her nose was already beginning to become bruised and discolored.

Though Aela was harsh she was actually lucky to have her as a trainer. Vilkas and his brother had Skjor when they first started their training and they were lucky to end the day with only a couple of broken ribs. "It'll get easier as you go." Vilkas said as he looked away from Hope. She turns her head to him, surprised by what he said. "It may be hard and painful now, but that's what you learn from." There he goes again with encouraging words almost making Hope not hate him again.

"What's this? A soft spot for the welp?" Skjor teases Vilkas. Vilkas scoffs and then takes a drink from his mug. "Nope, just words of encouragement to prepare her for the next time she fails." Vilkas chuckles. Hope sneers at him but then winces in pain from making that expression. She lets out a small groan as she places a hand over her nose. Vilkas shifts his eyes over to her seeing her bow her head from the pain. He couldn't help but feel bad for the new blood, she doesn't even realize that the hard part has yet to come.

Approaching footsteps makes them all turn. Aela was coming back and she had some medical supplies in hand. She sits in the empty chair next to Hope. "Turn this way." Aela instructs her with a wave of her hand. Hope grabs the bottom of her chair and completely turns it sideways so that she is facing Aela completely. Aela grabs a pitcher of water and pours it into a bowl. She then dips a rag in the water and starts to carefully wipe the blood off of Hope's face. "First day and the girl already has something broken." Skjor points out. "Well, she should've dodged." Aela replied with a chuckle. Skjor chuckles back before taking another drink of his mead.

"I did dodge..." Hope mumbles. When Aela presses the cold rag to Hope's nose, she winces and sucks in a sharp breath of air. "Oh come on now, it's not that bad." Aela said as she continued to clean up Hope's face. _'My ass...'_ She wants to talk back but she holds her tongue. After getting the blood cleaned off her face Aela then starts to work on bandaging her broken nose. Aela takes a long bandage and first places it on the top of Hope's nose, she then grabs the ends of the bandage and brings them to the back of her head behind her ears and ties them together. "There." She finishes the tight knot and then stands up from the chair. "It may not feel good on it but it'll help it heal, at least for the first couple days. A broken nose really isn't that bad." She says again with a crooked smile.

 _'To you...'_ She thinks while looking up at Aela. "Alight, now take a moment to rest and get some food in you and come meet me back in the training yard. We have more to do before the day ends." Aela gives Hope's shoulder a hard squeeze and then turns to walk towards the doors. _'More to do before the day ends...great...'_ Hope thinks to herself with a sigh as she turns her chair back around to face the table.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the first day of training with Aela was pretty much the same as it started. For awhile Aela kept swinging punches at Hope making her dodge and occasionally she would swing a kick out to keep it lively and every time she did, Hope always went down hard. "When are you going to get it through your head to expect surprises!?" Aela would yell every time. "Yeah yeah!" Hope would always yell back with a frustrated wave from her hand.

After doing that for what seemed like hours, Aela started making her dodge swings from her blade. "What if you cut me?!" Is what Hope said out of surprise when Aela drew her blade. "You'll heal." Is all she said with a shrug and without any warning, she started to swing her sword around making Hope move in all kinds of ways to dodge it.

They did this till it was well past dark and all they had for light were the dim torches that hung on the stone wall. "Oof!" Hope lands on her back hard. Not from a punch or kick, but just from exhaustion in general. It was from the last swing of Aela's sword that made her lose her footing and fall. Aela stands over watching her chest sink and rise from deep breaths, Aela too was out of breath but not as bad as Hope. "Alright, I think we can call it a day." Aela finally decides as she puts her blade back into its sheathe.

"You think?" Hope smart mouths breathlessly. Aela only chuckles as she walks over to Hope's side. She grabs her arm with a firm grip and then lifts her to her feet. Hope's surprised at how easy it seemed for Aela to pick her up. Hope rubs her arm where Aela had grabbed her and looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "How are you so strong?" She asks. Aela looks at her and gives her a crooked smile along with a pat to the back. "Maybe someday when you're ready, I'll show you." She gives Hope another pat on the back and a friendly smile, but there was something in her eyes when she said that. Something hidden maybe? Hope couldn't be sure, perhaps it was just her own exhaustion that was playing tricks on her mind.

Aela walks past Hope over to the weapons laying around. "Go on in and get some rest. We'll resume training at dawn." Aela said while picking up the weapons. Hope watches her for a bit and then turns around to limp back to Jorrvaskr. When Hope enters the building the main hall is only half full, if even that but it doesn't surprise her. It felt late and way past dinner time, everyone else had probably retired for the evening.

She looks at the table hoping to see Ria there but she doesn't. She only sees Vilkas, Skjor, Torvrar, Njada, and the Dark Elf who's name she has yet to learn. Skjor and Vilkas were sitting next to each other and it looked like they were planning something, a job most likely. She sees an empty seat next to Vilkas but there was no way she was going to sit next to him. She's not in the mood for his jokes and teasing. She looks to Njada who was sitting alone and eating, she didn't look like she was in the mood for company so that leaves Torvrar and the Dark Elf. She wasn't in the mood for Torvrar's loud voice but she did need to learn who the Dark Elf was eventually so she mine as well get it over with tonight.

She grabs her side where Aela's blade cut her and limps over to an empty chair next to the Dark Elf. She pulls the chair out rather loudly and then falls into it. She doesn't care that she bumps the table and she doesn't care that she's made everyone look at her for a moment. Torvrar and the Dark Elf both look at her with raised eyebrows. "You look like shit!" Torvrar comments loudly. "Feel like it to." Hope tells him as she pours herself some water into a cup. "Aela beat you up pretty good didn't she?" The Dark Elf asks while eyeing her injuries. "What gave it away?" She asks sarcastically and then takes a painful drink of water.

She winces when she swallows as she tastes blood from her mouth wash through her throat. "Names Athis." He introduces himself with a hand held out. Hope puts down the cup and takes his hand with hers. "I'm Hope, nice to finally know your name." She gives his hand a shake and before she lets go Athis quickly examines the fresh scrapes on her hand. They were from falling to the ground so many times. Hope lets go of his hand to pick back up her cup and take another drink. The taste of copper fills her mouth but she just ignores it and swallows the cold liquid down hard.

"So I gotta ask." She puts her cup back down and looks back at Athis. He raises an eyebrow at her. "What's your beef with Njada?" She asks with a nudge to her head in Njada's direction. "Saw you two fighting when I first got here and was told it was a normal thing for you two." She said while leaning forward with both arms resting on the table. "She's a bitch that's my beef with her." He mumbles as he pours himself some mead. She smiles a little while she watches him and then looks down at the table.

She hears the door behind her open and close again, she didn't need to turn around to know it was Aela. They were the only ones outside before she came back in. Aela passed her chair and when she did she gave Hope a hard pat to the shoulder. Hope winces from it and then watches her walk away. "You know what you need?" Torvrar catches her attention. "I think you need something more in your system other than water. If you know what I mean." Torvrar leans forward with a crooked grin on his face. She sat there staring at him trying to decide if he was either being stupid or a perv. "You know what that sounded like right?" Athis looks at him with a lifted eyebrow.

"Huh?" Torvrar furrows his eyebrows down at Athis. Athis rolls his eyes and then turns to look at Hope. "He's talking about mead." He clarifies. "What else would I be talking about?" Torvrar looks at them both keeping his eyebrows furrowed. "No thanks." She quickly tells them. "Oh come on! I bet a few drinks in you will loosen you right up!" Torvrar holds his mug in the air. "Again. Doesn't sound right." Athis tells him again. "What are you talking about? I'm saying it as clearly as I can!" Torvrar furrows his eyebrows at Athis again while lowering his mug back down. "You see, this is why Njada doesn't like you." Torvrar tells him with a pointed finger. Athis only shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

A small chuckle escapes from Hope as she watched them both with an amused smile on her face. "Anyways!" Torvrar slams both hands down on the table and then lifts himself up out of his seat. "It'll do you some good! Come on!" Torvrar nudges his head towards the door. "I could use some fresh mead." Athis says while getting up from his seat. "Well?" Torvrar raises an eyebrow at Hope with a grin on his face. Athis walks to the doors but stops and waits for Torvrar and possibly Hope. They both stare at her waiting for an answer. Hope lifts an eyebrow at them both.

She stares at them both for a moment and then looks down thinking. "I don't think I should." She looks back up at them. "I have to train more tomorrow and besides that, I've never had mead before so I don't know if I'd like it." She says with a shrug. Torvrar's eyes widen. "Never-never had mead!" He shouts in surprise. "How could you of never had mead before!?" He asks with both of his eyebrows raised. "Just never had the time for it." She answers honestly. Even though she was a waitress at a tavern she really hasn't ever tasted mead before. She was too busy with making whatever coin she could or taking care of her sisters.

"Well now you really do have to come with us!" Torvrar takes a few steps towards her. "Let me do the honor of buying you, you're first drink." Torvrar bows down in front of her and offers out a hand. She furrows her eyebrows down at his hand and then up at him. "Seriously?" She asks now lifting an eyebrow up at him but with a smile on her face. "My lady." He gestures his hand out again to her.

She rolls her eyes and then looks away keeping the smile on her face. She knew she probably shouldn't but after today she wouldn't mind getting out for maybe an hour or two. It probably wouldn't hurt to get to know Athis and Torvrar better anyways. "Alright fine." She gets up from the chair while pushing Torvrar's hand away. "But I'm not holding your hand." She tells him with a finger pointed to his face. "Fair enough." He shrugs and then watches her walk past him and over to the doors. "Don't you think you should clean yourself up a bit?" Athis asks with an eyebrow raised. "Why? This isn't a date." She says with a smirk as she opens the door next him and leaves.

Vilkas watches the three of them leave Jorrvaskr with furrowed eyebrows. "She's really going?" He says outloud. He wasn't really talking to Skjor or himself, he was just surprised. "What do you care?" Skjor slightly looks up at him and then looks back down at a map. "Doesn't she have more training tomorrow?" He asks as he looks back at Skjor. "Probably. Again, why do you care?" Skjor asks fully looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed. "I-I don't." Vilkas clears his throat as he looks back to the door. "I just don't want Aela to have trouble with her tomorrow." Vilkas explains with his eyes on the door.

"Well if you're so worried about it than go to the tavern with them. We have our plans for tomorrow, there's nothing else to discuss." Skjor tells him as he starts to roll up the map. Vilkas lets out an unsure groan as he continues to stare at the door. "If I were you though." Skjor starts to say but stops to get up out of his chair and push it in. "I wouldn't let her be alone at the tavern. I mean you heard her, she's never had mead before so you know as well as I do that every tavern has a man waiting for a light weight wench to come along to take advantage of." Skjor tells him as he starts to walk past him. "But hey, you did say that you don't care so it's not your problem right?" Skjor gives his shoulder a hard pat as he passes by him.

Vilkas lifts his eyebrows up as he watches Skjor walk away and then looks back down at the table. _'He's right, it's not my problem and besides she's not alone. Torvrar and Athis are with her.'_ He places both hands on the table and uses them to push himself up out of his seat but for some reason, he can't bring himself to walk away. He just stands there, staring down at the table with furrowed eyebrows. _'Torvrar and Athis are with her...'_ He thinks to himself again as he continues to stare down at the table with a contempt expression on his face. _'Yep, Torvrar and Athis are with her...'_ Vilkas brings his hand up to his forehead and rubs it with a frustrated sigh. _'And that's a problem.'_ Vilkas removes his hand from his forehead and finally makes his way for the doorway. "No one can trust those two idiots..." He mumbles.

Vilkas leaves Jorrvaskr and then quickly makes his way down the stairs that led away from the building. The streets were empty except for a few guards that patrolled their usual routes. He was hoping he would catch them before they got to the tavern to make an attempt to get Hope to come back but it seemed they were already there, so that's where Vilkas needed to go.

When he reached the door to the tavern he could hear the usual music come from inside along with loud chatter from the usual evening crowd that Hulda brings in. Vilkas grabs the door handle and opens it. The moment he steps in he's greeted with the familiar smell of mead and music from the bard Mikael. He looks around seeing groups of people gathered around Mikael with their mugs raised in the air as they sing along with his usual tunes. He examines the groups carefully but doesn't see the three Companions he's looking for.

Finally, his eyes fall to a table across the room that sat three chairs and in those chairs were the three Companions he sought. He saw a platter full of fresh sweet rolls with another platter next to it with several full bottles of mead. Athis was already drinking down his first full mug while Torvrar was handing Hope hers.

"Here you are my lady!" Torvrar said loudly as he handed her the mug happily. Hope takes the mug and then looks down at the warm colored liquid inside. They ordered the honey-brew mead specifically, she was told that it was sweeter and smoother to the tongue. The sudden loud noise of a clattering chair makes them all jump. They turn and see that it was Vilkas moving a chair over to their table and then taking a seat in it.

They all look at him with raised eyebrows. "What are you doing here?" Athis asks. "What? I can't have a drink with my fellow Companions?" Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down acting offended. "You can but you don't usually with us." Athis points out. "Rather it be with you than alone." He tells him while grabbing a bottle of mead and an empty mug. Athis and Torvrar just shrug and continue on but Hope keeps looking at Vilkas suspiciously.

While Vilkas fills his mug up he glances slightly up at Hope who had an eyebrow raised at him. "What?" He puts the bottle down as he furrows his eyebrows down at her. "I just find it weird that you're here all of a sudden." She tells him while looking away. "I already told you that I just wanted a drink but not alone." He replies keeping his eyebrows furrowed. "Other than that." He looks down at his filled mug as he lifts it up. "You should probably not be here." He says plainly. She quickly looks back at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Oh yeah? And why's that?" She asks with a tilt of her head. "Because you have training tomorrow." He puts his mug back down on the table with out taking a drink. "If you're hung over tomorrow, you're going to look a lot worse at the end of the day than you do now." He looks at her and when he does he shifts his eyes up and down her body to see her condition.

Hope quickly stands from her chair with both hands placed firmly on the table so that she can lean towards Vilkas and leer at him. "Is that why you're here? To pester me like a mother?" She asks angrily. "Well obviously someone has to because from I've seen so far its clear you didn't have enough of a mother growing up!" He shouts, matching her angry tone. Her expression changes and it's not what Vilkas would expect it to change to. Her eyebrows slowly sink into a sad furrow as her eyes show a great deal of pain. He sees her hand slowly rise to her chest and for a moment he thinks she is grabbing at a pained heart but between her fingers a small glimmer catches his eye and that's when he sees the necklace.

Vilkas watches her slowly back away from him as she stands back up straight. She just stands there looking down at the table while twisting the jeweled necklace between her fingers. "Way to be a buzz kill." Athis mumbles as he takes a drink. "He's right, I shouldn't be here." She finally speaks and then walks away. "What?! Oh come on, we just got our drinks ordered!" Torvrar tries to convince her to stay but it doesn't work. "Some other time." She tells him without looking back and then leaves the tavern.

Vilkas just sits there staring down at the table with his eyebrows furrowed. _'What just happened?'_ He slowly turns in his chair to look back at the door. The image of her saddened face comes to his mind and for some reason it sends a sharp sensation through his chest. Is it guilt that he's feeling? If so then he doesn't know why, he didn't say anything that should of upset her. _'So it's not my fault.'_ He turns back around to stare back down at the table with a contempt expression. He's sure that it's not his fault but for some reason, he can't get rid of the sharp sensation that had just appeared in his chest.

Hope walks back to Jorrvaskr with a frown on her face and her necklace between her thumb and index finger. She was rubbing the gem with her finger with pain appearing in her chest. He didn't know so it probably wasn't fair for Hope to be hurt by what he said but she just can't help it. _'Idiot should be careful what he says to people...'_ She frowns more as she walks up the steps to Jorrvaskr. _'I think I'm just going to stop talking to him for now on. Everytime we're near each other all we do is fight and make everyone uncomfortable.'_ She decides to herself with a sigh. The thought of staying away from Vilkas made her feel strange for some reason, she's only known the guy for a couple of days and she's sure that she hates him so why does it feel weird? Hope quickly shakes her head to knock herself out of it. _'No need to overthink it.'_

"Way to ruin my chance!" Torvrar yells while gesturing his mug out towards Vilkas. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows. "Chance?" He asks. "Yeah! Chance with Hope!" Torvrar tells him. Vilkas and Athis both laugh at the same time. Torvrar furrows his eyebrows down at them both as he watches them. "What's so funny?" He asks. "What's funny is that you think you have a chance with Hope." Vilkas answered while leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face. "Yeah? Well I have a hell of a lot better chance with her than you!" Torvrar points at Vilkas with his free hand and then takes a swig of his mead.

"Can't deny that." Athis agrees with a nod. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down as he shifts his eyes between them both. "Oh don't act so surprised!" Torvrar puts his mug down rather loudly. "It's clear that she hates you, I'm sure even Athis has a better chance with her than you!" He points to Vilkas again. "I'm positive that I have a better chance with her than BOTH of you." Athis gestures his mug out towards them both and then takes a drink. "Ha! You wish!" Torvrar picks his mug back up to point it right back at Athis.

Vilkas sits there keeping his arms crossed with his eyes down at the table. He was annoyed by their dumb argument of who would have a better chance with Hope but for some reason something else got to him. _"It's clear that she hates you!"_ Torvrar's words echo in his head as a flash of her saddened face from just a bit ago appears in his mind. _'Hates me huh?'_ Vilkas grabs his mug and just stares down at the warm colored liquid. _'Well that's just fine.'_ He brings his mug to his mouth and takes a big drink of his mead.

Dawn came earlier than Hope would of liked. She slept way better than she did the first night and when it was time to get up, she wasn't ready. She lets out a dreadful sigh as Ria straps on her iron chest piece. "How do you feel?" Ria asks. "Sore, tired, painful. You know." Hope answers with a hint of dread in her voice. Ria gives Hope a sympathetic pat on the back when she's finished with the straps. "Who trained you when you first started here?" Hope asks as she grabs her brush from the night stand next to the bed she chose.

"Vilkas." Ria answers with a small smile. "Ha! Now I'm glad I have Aela." Hope admits as she runs the brush through her messy hair. Ria watches the brush run through Hope's deep, thick red hair and then lets out a envious sigh. Hope looks at her with an eyebrow raised. "I like your hair." Ria tells her with a smile. "My hair?" Hope lifts a strand of her hair and looks at it. Ria nods. "It's very long and pretty, not to mention thick." Ria observes it more. "I bet you can do anything with it!" She moves her eyes back to Hope.

Hope lifts another eyebrow at her and then looks at Ria's hair. "What's wrong with yours?" She asks as she starts to braid her hair from behind. "Eh." Ria runs a hand through her short hair. "This is as long as it gets and it's no where as thick as I would like it to be." She tells her with a dissatisfied sigh. "I'm sure there's something you can do with it to make it look appealing though." Hope reassures her with a smile as she finishes the long braid. She then picks up the brush and brushes her bangs out so they wave around her face like they usually do.

"You think?" Ria asks slightly hopeful. "I do!" Hope says with a smile. They both hear a nearby scoff and turn towards it. Standing at a bed on the opposite side of the room was Njada and she was looking at them with an annoyed expression on her face. Hope and Ria both exchange glances and then Hope looks back at her with an eyebrow raised. "Something on your mind?" Hope asks while fully turning to her. "I just think it's stupid that you two are standing over there talking about hair instead of getting ready." She tells them with a rude tone of voice. Hope furrows her eyebrows down and then looks down at herself and then at Ria. "We are ready." She quickly looks back at Njada. "Maybe you should just mind your own business." Hope crosses her arms and furrows her eyebrows down at her.

Njada scoffs again as she turns to pick up her helmet. "I wish I could but that's impossible when we all share the same damn room." She mumbles showing she's obviously irritated. She quickly puts her helmet on and tucks her hair inside. "Let me give you both a bit of advice while we're speaking because I assure you this is the last time it will happen." She says as she turns back to them. "You two care way too much about what you look like, it's obvious just by looking at you." She crosses one arm and then gestures a hand out towards their faces. "I mean for gods sake you have makeup on!" She points out.

Hope lifts an eyebrow at her. "So what? It's not like we painted our faces or anything, there's nothing wrong with a little lip paint and blush." She examines Njada's face seeing how it was plain and also dirty. "But what's the point?" She asks with arms gestured out wide as she takes a few steps towards them. "You're going to train or work a job, it's just going to get messed up." Njada says while crossing her arms. Hope stares at her for a moment and then turns to look at Ria who just shrugs when she does.

"I think it's my turn to give you a little bit of advice." Hope offers while looking back at her and taking a couple steps forward. Njada raises an eyebrow up as she looks Hope up and down. "I don't think you care enough about what you look like." Hope crosses her arms. "If you did at least just a little, perhaps a man would be interested in you or better yet, get that stick out of your ass." She then gives Njada a quick pat on the arm and then leaves the room with Ria quickly following her. Ria didn't want to deal with Njada's temper after that.

They both quickly make their way up the stairs and they both see Torvrar and Athis sitting at the table, looking awful. Torvrar lets out a painful groan with his head laid down on the table. "Not so damn loud." Athis hits him on the shoulder and then tries to eat but he looks like he's going to be sick. Ria and Hope both lifts their eyebrows up at them. _'Good thing I left when I did...'_ She thinks to herself. The thought of training with that bad of a hangover made Hope cringe. She's never had one before but she's seen plenty of them to know they're bad.

"So Ria." Hope clears her throat as she starts to walk towards the back doors with Ria following. "Are you going to be working on your two handed training today?" She asks. "No I have a job actually!" Ria answers happily. "Really?" Hope asks with raised eyebrows. Ria nods with excitement. "It's my first big job. Skjor and Vilkas are going with me on it." Ria explains while keeping her happy smile. "Skjor and Vilkas huh?" Hope lifts an eyebrow. Ria nods again. "I'm glad they are, I don't think I'd be able to handle this one alone." Ria admits with a nervous smile. Hope gives Ria a reassuring smile and then gives her a quick pat on the shoulder before opening the door and walking outside.

Vilkas and Skjor are both sitting at one of the tables examining a map and going over plans. "Just how far is this place?" Vilkas asks with his eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed. "Why? You got plans later?" Skjor asks while sitting up straight. "No, just curious is all." Vilkas explains himself. "It's a few hours, so make sure you pack enough supplies, we probably won't be back until late tonight." Skjor explains as he looks back down at the map. Vilkas understands him with a nod as he too looks back down at the map as well.

They both hear the door open and both look up at the same time. "Bout time girl, what took you so long?" Skjor says to Ria with his eyebrows furrowed. "Sorry!" Ria quickly apologizes as she rushes over to them. Vilkas watches her come over and then looks past her seeing Hope walk by. He examines her face while she passes and can see that her broken nose looks a bit better. He also sees that she didn't bother to bandage it so he wonders if maybe the bone of her nose was just cracked instead of actually being broken. He moves his eyes up to her eyes to try and catch them but she doesn't look his way. In fact, it looks like she's purposly not looking at him.

He can see her eyebrows furrow when she senses his eyes on her but she still refuses to look at him. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down as he watches her walk over to Aela who had a bow and a bag of arrows ready for her. _'What in oblivion crawled up her butt and died?'_ Vilkas thinks to himself as he continues to watch her. The sharp sensation he felt in his chest last night suddenly returns as if to remind him that he is what crawled up her butt and died.

"Good morning!" Aela greeted Hope with a ready smile. "Is it?" Hope asks with a lifted eyebrow but also an amused smile to show the joke. Aela chuckles a bit as she holds the bow and bag of arrows out to Hope. Hope takes them curiously. "Today we're going to work on your aim." Aela tells her. "Really?" Hope asks as she looks back up at her with another lifted eyebrow. "I thought we'd be working on my reflexes and speed, you made them seem important skills to have." Hope lowers the bow and bag of arrows. "They are, but we can't work on the same things everyday, it's good to change it up otherwise it wouldn't do any good for you." Aela explains. Hope understood with a nod as she placed the arrows on her back.

"You two ready?" Skjor asks Ria and Vilkas as he walks down the small set of steps. "Ready!" Ria answers excitedly but also nervously. Vilkas follows behind Ria but before walking any further he stops and turns to look at Hope once more. He watches Aela remind her how to stand with the bow and then watches Hope get in that stance. He watches her ready an arrow and then shoot it and just like yesterday, it didn't go far and plummeted right into the ground. A small chuckle escapes Vilkas and it's heard. When it comes from him, Hope quickly turns around and the moment she sees him she quickly furrows her eyebrows down at him and then turns back around to keep training. Vilkas shakes his head in amusement as he turns back to follow after Ria and Skjor.

"Don't mind him or what he thinks, he's not going to be here today so just focus." Aela tells her with a nod towards the bow. Hope nods and then readies another arrow. "I know it must be frustrating to not hit your mark but know that even though you're missing, it's not a failure." Aela explains. Hope turns her head to her with an eyebrow raised in question. "Even though you miss, you are still gaining something from it. When you hold your arms up and pull back an arrow you are building up muscles in your arms and later down the road you'll see that the longer you keep doing this the better your shots will become." Aela explains more with a small smile.

Hope nods showing that she understands, she looks from Aela and back to the target. _'So what she's basically saying is practice makes perfect. Figures.'_ She thinks to herself. Hope readies another arrow and then pulls it back while lifting the bow up. Aela was right, as Hope stands there and holds the arrow in place, she can feel her muscles tense and hold. She pulls back the arrow a bit farther and holds it in place till her arms start to feel tired. The moment they become shaky is when she lets the arrow go. To her surprise the arrow goes farther this time but it still doesn't make it to the target. _'Oh well, it's not like I'm actually trying to hit it right now.'_ Right now all she is trying to accomplish is muscles build up, so with that decided she carefully readies another arrow and pulls it back as far as she can. _'I won't stop till my arms fall off.'_

Arrow after arrow Hope's muscles only get more tired but she doesn't care, she doesn't stop. Then the next thing she knows morning rolls by and now it's the afternoon, late afternoon to be exact. "You really should stop and rest." Aela says as she walks up to Hope. She left Hope on her own to go inside and take care of something. That was two hours ago and she was surprised to see Hope still working hard. "I'm okay." Hope tells her as she pulls another arrow back.

Her face twitches and her arms tremble as she holds the arrow in place. She lets it go and just like all the others before it, it doesn't make it to the target but it did seem that her arrows were making it farther each time. "She's right." Farkas cuts in and when he does it surprises her. The whole time she's been outside Farkas has been outside. He was sitting on the ground with his arms and legs crossed, watching her. She knew he was outside with her but he hasn't said a word the whole time until now. She lowers the bow and looks at him with an eyebrow raised.

He gets up from the ground and walks over to her. "If you push yourself to far, you'll regret it the next day." He tells her while crossing his arms. "I'm fine." She tells them again as she starts to ready another arrow but before she can lift the bow, Farkas places a gentle hand on her lower arm to stop her. "I'm serious." He tilts his head a bit so that she will look up and look him in the eyes. When she does she feels her face become warm. She didn't notice when he moved closer to her and now that he was close, she could make out his handsome facial structure more clearly.

She clears her throat and then quickly takes a step to the side away from him. "Okay, I'll take a break..." She gives in with a small voice. Farkas gives her a half smile that makes her face grow warmer and makes her look away from him. She clears her throat again as she walks past Aela. Aela crosses her arms and lifts an eyebrow up at Farkas with an amused smile on her face. "Works every time." He says with a shrug and then turns back around to walk away. Vilkas always liked to be the tough trainer where Farkas liked to be the gentle one, at least on the women. It always seemed to work better on them.

Hope enters Jorrvaskr and she's surprised to see Kodlak sitting at the table eating a late lunch. He looks up when he hears the door close and smiles when he sees that it is Hope. "Ah! Our newest member!" He greets her with a smile. "Come, sit!" He gestures a hand towards the empty chair next to him. She returns his smile as she walks over to him and takes a seat in the empty chair. "How are we doing so far?" He asks with the same smile on his face. "I'm adjusting, at least I think I am." She answers with a shrug but keeps her smile on her face. "Good, good." He nods while giving her a couple of light pats to the back.

"So Aela tells me you're wishing to be an archer." He tells her as he dips the tip of his bread into his soup. Hope nods as she looks out at the food in front of her trying to decide if she really wants to eat anything. "It's a good path to follow but it's also a hard path to start." He says after taking a bite of his bread that was soaked in broth. "That's what Aela tells me." Hope replies as she grabs a pitcher of water and then pours it into a cup. "Aye, there's a reason why many here have not chosen that path." Kodlak puts his half-eaten bread down and then picks up his own cup of water to take a drink.

Hope looks at him with an eyebrow raised. "No one else uses the bow?" She asks. "No, there are a few here who can shoot arrows but that doesn't mean they know how to use it." He answers while putting his cup back down. Hope's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Kodlak senses her confusion and questioning of what he meant so he clarifies. "The few here that do use a bow only use it if necessary. Like hunting for instance or perhaps to try and go for a quick kill when in the middle of battle." He explains as he fully looks at her. "All that takes is just shooting a few arrows and it doesn't take much to know how to do that. All you have to do really is build up the muscle and focus, then you've got it." He slightly gestures his hands out to separate the words muscle and focus. "A lot of people in fact think that is all it takes to be an archer. But they're very wrong." He then waves his finger in the air to show his point.

"You see, archery is more of an art than a skill. It's something you work on continuously to get better at, it's your masterpiece that is never complete because you always find ways to improve it or perhaps new ways to use it." He explains more while gesturing his hands out more. "So you're saying...to really be an archer you need...an imagination?" Hope asks keeping her eyebrows knit together as she's still not sure of what he's telling her. "I suppose." Kodlak chuckles. He looks at Hope's confused face and can't help but to let out another small chuckle as he places a kind hand on her shoulder. "Keep training and think on what I've told you today. Someday it'll all click." With that said, Kodlak gets up from his chair and leaves the table to go continue his work.

Hope watches him walk away for a moment and then looks back down at the table. _'Learning to be an archer just keeps getting more and more complicated...'_ She thinks to herself with a sigh. Her arms sink down to rest in her lap, now that she was still she felt like her arms were going to fall off but that's what she was wanting to work toward. If she was sore then it means that it was working and that she was on the right path. She just still has a long way to go and that was the part she didn't like, but no great warrior is made in just a day.


	8. Chapter 8

"No, no, no. If we take that road we'll have to re-circle over here and it'll add another two hours to the trip. We need to take this road." Skjor argues with Vilkas over the map. "I don't think that's right." Vilkas shakes his head with his arms stubbornly crossed. Skjor lets out a frustrated sigh with his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ria sits at a table with her elbow sitting on top of it and her head leaning into her hand. A couple hours ago they stopped in Rorikstead for a quick lunch but that quick lunch turned into a long argument of which way was the right way to go. Ria lets out a sigh as she removes her elbows from the table and looks down at the empty plate in front of her. _'Mine as well get more to eat.'_ She decides for herself as she gets up from the table with the plate in her hand.

She walks past the two fighting Companions then over to the counter. The barkeeper notices her approaching, he turns towards her with a pleasant smile. "Anything else I can get for you?" He asks. "Do you have any more sweet tarts?" She asks with a smile. "Sure do! How many would you like?" He asks as he leans on the counter. "Three please!" She answers happily. He gives her a nod and then turns to retrieve her order.

Ria stands there patiently while quietly humming a tune. She hears uncomfortable shifting next to her following a small sigh. She slightly turns her head to the side and sees a young man about her age sitting on one of the bar stools. He was holding a mug with both hands and was staring at it with his eyebrows furrowed. He looked bothered, or was it nervous? She could never tell. The young man feels her eyes on him and becomes tense. She lifts an eyebrow up at him as she sees him shift his eyes to her and then quickly shift them away.

As she stared at him she couldn't help but be reminded of someone. The way he shifted his eyes and the way he tensed when he became nervous, he reminded her of Hope, and that made her smile. She moved her eyes away from the young man sensing that she was making him uncomfortable. "Here you are!" The Innkeeper placed three sweet tarts onto Ria's plate with a white cloth placed underneath them so that they don't crumble everywhere. Ria looks at them and then looks back up the Innkeeper with a smile. "Thanks!" She then picked up the plate and walked back over to her table.

When she reaches her table she starts to hear more arguing but it wasn't Vilkas and Skjor this time. "Go over there and ask." She catches some of the argument. Ria's ear twitches as she hears one of the voices quickly go quiet and irritated. She can't help but become a bit curious so slightly moves her head so she can see who it is. It's the Innkeeper and the young man, the Innkeeper was leaning forward on the counter with his index finger pressed down on it as if trying to make a point and the young man was just shaking his head with a nervous and annoyed expression on his face.

She then sees the Innkeeper slightly nudge his head up towards Ria and the young man shakes his head faster. She slowly takes a bite out of the first sweet tart and continues to watch, curious of what was going to happen. She watches the Innkeeper stand up straight with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern look on his face. He was staring down at the young man with his eyebrows furrowed like he was silently scolding him just as a parent would. The young man lets out a deep sigh and then gets up from the bar stool. Ria quickly turns back around so she doesn't get caught staring.

She hears approaching footsteps, once they come close and stop she can feel the nerves coming off of the young man. "Excuse me." He finally speaks. Ria turns around to face him with a lifted eyebrow. "You're a Companion right?" He asks with a nervous and shaky voice. Ria nods in response. He exhales shakily as he takes a seat next to her. She watches him with another raised eyebrow.

"Can I ask you a question?" He starts even more nervous then before. "Shoot!" Ria replies happily trying to calm his nerves and it seems to have worked a little. He relaxes and exhales deeply. "My names Erik, I had a friend who left town and I think she may have joined the Companions. So I was hoping maybe if you..." He starts to trail off as he looks down at the table. Ria stares at him and tries to think. No one she knows in the Companions is from Rorikstead and the newest member was Hope.

"Is her name Hope?" Ria asks grabbing back his attention. He looks at her confused with his eyebrows knitted together. He quickly shifts his eyes away from her to the table and then shakes his head. "That's not." He looks up at her again keeping his eyebrows knitted. "That's not her name." He clears his throat and shifts around in his chair to get ready to get up. "She must of gone somewhere else or something." His voice is low and he sounds disappointed but there was more than that. Ria's eyebrows furrow in concern. She see's a flash of regret appear in his eyes as well as some worry. "Sorry for bothering you." He gives her a small apologetic nod and then gets up from his chair to walk back to his place at the counter.

"Ria!" Skjor's voice makes Ria jump and nearly knock over the plate full of sweet tarts over. She quickly places her hands on the top of the two remaining sweet tarts to save them. She lets out a small relieved sigh. _'That was close!'_ She sighs again while looking down at the treats with a smile on her face. With them saved she quickly looks over and saw Skjor standing next to the door. She then looks around the Inn and can see that Vilkas must of already stepped out. "Let's hit the road." Skjor says while nudging his head towards the door.

Ria wraps up her tarts in the cloth underneath them and then gets up from her chair to hurry over to Skjor. Skjor walks out the door and Ria moves to follow but before she leaves, she stops and turns her head to look over at Erik. He was sitting back down in a bar stool. He had both elbows resting on the counter with both of his hands covering his face. She watches him rub his face with both hands and then lower them back down to a mug in front of him while letting out a deep sigh. Ria's eyebrows knit together with concern again as she watches him for a moment longer. She felt worried for him but there really wasn't anything she could do about it, she didn't know him or his story. So with a small sigh, she turns back towards the door and leaves.

Vilkas was standing outside the Inn a the bottom of the steps waiting. He had his arms crossed over his chest with a frustrated look on his face. Skjor won their argument like he always does and soon they'll regret taking Skjor's path like they always do. Skjor's excuse for winning an argument is that he's older and that means he's wiser but someone can only be wiser if they're actually right and Vilkas knew Skjor wasn't right about this.

He starts to look around the small village and to him it hasn't changed a bit since the last time he was here, and that was years ago when he first started doing jobs as a Companion. It was rare to ever get a job out in this area and if Vilkas ever did come near here it was just to take the roads, but his jobs usually kept him in the Reach or the Rift. If he ever did come across Rorikstead or near it something and someone did come across his mind. It was his first job here and his meeting of someone. A girl who's name he never got the chance to know, a girl who he saved during his first job.

He and Kodlak had come to this village to clear out some bandits that were beginning to hold up in a cave just outside Rorikstead. Kodlak thought it was a good start for Vilkas, he questioned Kodlak though when he brought him out here. It seemed like kind of a big job for someone his age and rank. _"It'll do you some good to have something to take your anger out on."_ Is the answer that Kodlak gave him because he was angry, he was angry at everything that's happened and he took it out on everyone around him. Especially Farkas, to this day Vilkas still feels the pain known as guilt strike him in his heart when he thinks about it.

That day though, that first job made Vilkas feel something other than anger. It made him feel fear. When he saw that bandit hold a blade to the girls throat and saw tears spilling from her eyes, he thought he was going to lose it. He was going to lose it because it was out of his control. Just one misplaced step, just one wrong word, just one twitch, and she could of died. He would of watched her blood spill from her throat and the life drain from her eyes. The image of that horrific thought flashed in his mind several times as he looked into her eyes.

He remembers looking up at Kodlak for assurance, for guidance, for anything and what he saw took him off guard. He saw Kodlak's jaw tighten as he laid down his sword, he watched his brow twitch with fear trying to take control of him. He was afraid for the girl, he was afraid of what could happen. But he never let it show, he kept his breathing steady and his face calm. He never let his expression change, he just kept his eyes straight on the bandit with out even blinking, because he knew, he knew if he let his emotions take over than it was all over.

That's when it clicked, that's when Vilkas finally realized a valuable lesson. All of his younger life he let anger rule over him and everything he did, and that hurt a lot of people. So in that moment, he learned that if he let his fear take over and rule over him then that would mean the end for the girl and cause great pain for others down the road. He needed to be calm, he needed to get his emotions under control for the well-being of others and not just in that moment, but also down the road so that he didn't hurt anybody else.

So he did what Kodlak had done. He quickly got his emotions in check, his breathing steady, and put on a brave face. He lowered his sword to the ground but never took his eyes off the girl, in fact he spoke to her. Got her attention with a calm smile to let her know that she was going to be okay because he would be damned if he let anything happen to her. To his surprise her tears stopped and she gave him a nod, a nod showing that she trusted, no, believed in him and that took him off guard more than the fear inside him did. No one had believed in him like that before. Sure his brother and Kodlak always said they did but they were family, they didn't really have a choice in the matter, but with her it was different. Because to her he was nothing but a stranger, a stupid kid that was her age and yet, she was calm and her eyes told him that she had faith in him.

Then the unthinkable happened, that stupid bandit took a bad step and tripped. He remembered being in awe when he saw great bravery appear in the girl when she elbowed him hard in the gut making him let go of her. She immediately ran to him and hid behind him, again showing great trust and belief that he would protect her and in that moment he would of died for her. After that, it all ended pretty quickly and before he knew it, they left. He had wished that they stayed longer so he could of learned the name of the girl but they couldn't. They needed to get back to Jorrvaskr for more work that needed to be done.

So now she was just a memory that would occasionally pop up and Rorikstead was just a little town that was always out of the way. But now that he was back, he couldn't help but start to wonder about her. He wondered about what became of her, he wondered if she still lived here and wondered what she looked like now. Back then as a boy he found her to be pretty so now he wonder how he would see her as a man. Would she even remember him? So many things kept swirling around in his mind and it was a little ridiculous. It was ridiculous to think about a girl he met once a long time ago when he was just a boy, but for some reason, he can't stop.

The Inn's door opening and closing made Vilkas jump and snap out of it. He turns around and sees Skjor start walking down the steps with Ria quickly following after him. "Finally." Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at them both. "Oh shut up." Skjor replied as he passed Vilkas. "Did you finally come to your senses and see that I'm right?" Vilkas asks with a smart mouth. "No because you're not right, we're taking my path." Skjor tells him as he looks back at him with an irritated look on his face. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at him as he starts to follow with Ria behind him.

"I'm telling you old man, that is not the right way!" Vilkas starts to argue. "It is the right way and it is the way we are taking." Skjor argues right back. Vilkas sneers at him and opens his mouth to talk back but the sudden impact of running into someone cuts him off. He stumbles back a bit and then looks forward with his eyebrows furrowed. He doesn't see anybody in front of him. "Huh?" He wonders out loud as he looks around a bit. "I'm sorry!" A small voice makes him jump and quickly look down. In front of him was a child, a small girl to be exact. That explains why he didn't see anybody at first.

He looks at her and gets ready to apologize himself but when he looks into her eyes he freezes. It's her, it's the girl! She's looking up at him with the same green eyes she had back then! _'No, wait.'_ It isn't her, it can't be her. That was years ago and by now she should be the same age as Vilkas but this child in front him was a spitting image. Except for the hair though, he sees that now as he starts to examine her. This child's hair is a dark brown where the girl from years ago had deep red hair. He felt foolish for thinking that the child could possibly be her.

He gives the small child a smile as he kneels down in front of her. "It's quite alright, I should be the one apologizing I wasn't watching where I was going." He keeps his kind smile as he apologizes. The small girls eyes widen as a blush appears on her face. "Sissel!" The little girl jumps and then turns in the direction where her name is being called. Another little girl who looked exactly like her came running up. Vilkas blinked as he looked at the other little girl. Standing together Vilkas can see that they both look exactly a-like. _'Twins.'_ He realizes with a smile.

He examines the other little girl for a moment and can see that she too looks just like the girl he thought about. The difference between them was their eyes. This little girl had blue eyes but her hair was a deep red like hers. Vilkas shifts his eyes between them. _'Daughters maybe?'_ He wonders but no that can't be right. She should be Vilkas's age so she would be too young to have daughters this old.

"You're not supposed to talk to strangers Sissel." The little girl speaks to her sister making Vilkas snap out of his thoughts. "I wasn't Britte!" Sissel crosses her arms and wrinkles her nose at her sister. Britte furrows her eyebrows down at Sissel. "Please don't get angry with her." Vilkas cuts in making them both look at him. "It's my fault, I accidentally ran into her." He explains with the same smile he gave Sissel but it didn't work the same. Britte furrows her eyebrows down at him and sneers.

Vilkas is taken by surprise by that with his eyebrows shooting up. "I wasn't talking to you, **stranger**." She speaks like a brat making Vilkas scoff with his eyebrows furrowing. Now she reminded him of someone else, with her dis-respective tone of voice and the mean look on her face. She reminded him of a new thorn at his side that just joined the Companions. "Vilkas come on!" Skjor calls him making him look up quickly. He takes on last look at the girls and then gets up walking away from them.

As he walks away he can't help but look back at them over his shoulder. They're both watching him walk away and then suddenly the one called Sissel quickly surprises her sister with a tag and then takes off running. "Hey!" Britte calls after her and then chases her. A small chuckle leaves Vilkas as he turns back around and starts to jog down the road to catch up with Skjor and Ria.

 _ **THUD!**_ An arrow sticks fast into the bottom of the wooden target. Hope stands there with the bow still raised in the air and her eyes wide. She blinks while staring at it in disbelief. Did she really just hit the target or is she just seeing things due to exhaustion? She couldn't tell. She lowers the bow down and squints her eyes at the arrow. The sun had set a while ago so it was growing dark fast making it harder to see. "Not bad!" Aela's voice from behind startles Hope making her jump. She turns to look at her and sees her lighting the torches on the wall.

"I bet it feels nice to finally get one after no many misses." Aela said with a smile as she continued to light the torches. Hope watches her for a moment and then looks back over to the target. She stares at the arrow with a growing smile. The arrow landed on the bottom part of the target, her arms hurt, and in front of her arrows littered the ground but she didn't care. It did feel nice and she was proud of herself. Maybe now that she's landed one she can get more next time. "Go ahead and pick up your mess and then call it a night." Aela nudges her head down towards the many arrows sticking out of the ground and then goes back to lighting the torches.

Hope quickly does as she is told and starts to pull the arrows out of the soil. It doesn't take her long to get them all picked up and after that was done, she placed the arrows that were still in good condition back in the bag then threw away the broken ones. She stretches her back out as she stands up straight and lets out a painful groan. Even though all she did was shoot arrows today she still felt sore all over. She didn't only feel sore though, she also felt dirty and she knew she probably smelled. _'I need to bathe tonight...'_ She thinks to herself while rubbing the back of her sore neck. _'But first food.'_ She decides as she starts to walk back to Jorrvaskr. She ended up not eating anything when she took her small break earlier so now she was starving.

She enters Jorrvaskr and can see everyone - except the three Companions that left this morning- sitting at the table enjoying their fresh dinner. She frowned realizing that she didn't have Ria to sit next to tonight so she starts looking for Torvrar and Athis. They seemed to be alright but they were sitting at the edge of the table and the free chair next to them was also next to Njada and she really didn't want to sit next to her. She sensed that Njada still has ill feelings towards her from this morning. Hope lets out a small sigh as she looks around a bit more, at the middle section of the table she sees a few empty chairs so that's where she will sit.

Sitting alone didn't sound to bad, she was tired and really wasn't in the mood for a chat, she just wanted to eat and then go find a river to bathe in. She slowly sits down in a chair and then lets out a relieved sigh when she's fully sitting down. She lets her arms sink down into her lap as she slouches over the table. A wave of exhaustion suddenly washes over her and she feels like she could fall asleep right then and there. She slowly closes her eyes and lifts a heavy hand to the back of her neck to rub the sore muscles.

A small tired moan escapes Hope as she moves her hand down lower to the upper part of her back. Her muscles felt stiff and very sore, she had a feeling that Farkas was going to be right about her regretting her hard work the next day. "I could give you a back massage if you want." The sudden appearance of the low voice makes Hope jump and nearly fall out of her seat. She sits up straight and quickly looks next to her. She furrows her eyebrows when she sees it was just Torvrar, he must of gotten up and sat next to her while her eyes were closed.

He was leaning on the table with his elbow resting on it and his face resting on his hand. He was looking at her with a crooked grin. "No thanks." She replies while looking away from him. "You sure? You sounded like you need one." He points out as he shifts around in his seat so he can sit up straight. "I'm sure." She replies as she keeps her eyes away from him. "Your loss!" He tells her loudly as he gets up from the chair. She turns her head to watch him walk back over to his original seat, she raises an eyebrow as she watches Torvrar hand Athis something. She looks closer at what he handed him and can see it was a small coin purse. _'Oh for the love of.'_ She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. _'Idiots.'_

Hope finished her dinner quickly, she was in a hurry to bathe. When she left Jorrvaskr she found Aela was still outside and was sitting at one of the tables. She asked her if there was any kind of river or pond nearby outside of town for bathing, Aela pointed her a mile West outside of Whiterun. She told her of a nice pond that connected to a river that she found and liked, so that's where Hope was heading.

She was walking away from Whiterun with some casual cloths and a towl bundled up in her arms. When she reached the stables she turned West and walked on the road for a bit. As she walked down the stone road and looked a head, she started to feel a small pain form in her heart. This was the road that led to Rorikstead, to her family. _'I wonder how they're doing...'_ She wondered as she looked up at the night sky and started to think about how about this time she would be normally putting the girls to bed.

More pain appeared in her chest as their faces flashed in her mind. _'I wonder what they're thinking right about now...'_ She feels her heart start to break as she pictures her sisters in bed crying because she wasn't there to tell them a story or tuck them in. She stops walking and shuts her eyes as Sissels face comes to her mind. She imagines it flushed red with fresh tear streaks running down her cheeks. Then Britte's face comes to her mind and she can see her rolled over on her side with her arms crossed and her own tears running down her face but it would be different from Sissel's. Britte always liked to act tough so she would be trying to have a brave face on, but her lip would still tremble and tears would still fall from her eyes.

Hope has to bring a hand to her eyes to keep herself from crying. She rubs her eyes with the palm of her free hand to keep the tears in. _'No don't think abou that.'_ She tells herself. _'They're big girls and they can take care of themselves and besides, Father is there with them and I bet he told them a story, or at least tried to.'_ An image of her father standing at the feet of her sisters bed comes to mind and she can see a grumpy look on his face as her sisters try to show him how to tell a story properly. That brings a smile to her face and makes a tiny chuckle escape from her.

She would rather go with that thought than the one she had before it. She inhales deeply and then exhales while removing her hand from her face. _'Alright.'_ She nods to herself and then starts to walk down the road again. She soon comes across a trail that leads away from the road. She stops and examines it. _'I'm pretty sure this is the one Aela told me to look for.'_ She thinks to herself as she starts to walk down the narrow path.

The trail leads through an open area. The more she walked through it the more unsure she was of taking her bath out here. It was really open and she felt like anyone could see her, even from the road. It's not long till she can hear running water and smell the familiar scent that came from a river. She starts to hurry when the river is in sight. She approaches it while looking down at it. It was a decent sized river, not too shallow and not too deep but deep enough for some fish to live in, but the river isn't what she was wanting. She's wanting the pond that Aela said connected to it.

She turns her head both ways to look and to the right of her a couple yards down is the pond. She smiles as she starts to walk along side the river towards it. She reaches it in no time and when she does she examines the area around her. A large rocks sits right on the edge of the pond, she feels relieved when she sees it because it's just large enough to cover her, at least cover her from the road. She wasn't too worried about the fields behind her, she didn't see why anybody would be wondering around them at this time of night.

She walks to the large rock and places her things on the top of it. She stands close to the rock as she starts to unstrap the iron chest plate from behind. It was hard getting out of it on her own but she eventually got it. She let the heavy chest piece fall to the ground as she started removing the chain mail. It was a relief to get all the heavy pieces off. She puts the chain-mail on-top of the chest piece and then starts to remove the cloth parts of her armor. She then kicks off her boots and now she's left in nothing but her undergarments.

She takes a quick look around to make sure that no eyes are one her. When she's sure that she's really alone she starts to untie her undergarments. She quickly places them next to the rest of her dirty things and then quickly gets in the water while covering herself with her hands. She shivers when her bare skin comes into contact with the cold water but it wasn't unbearable because it doesn't take her long to get used to it. As she moves to the deepest part of the pond she unbraids her hair and then runs a hand through it to untangle it.

She shivers more as the chilly water rises against her when she moves to the middle of the pond. The water is deep enough just to her liking, it reaches up past her stomach and stops just below her breasts but she can still reach the bottom with her feet and can sink down enough to wash her hair. Aela was right, this was a really nice spot to bathe. Hope slowly sinks down till her breasts were hidden by the water.

She lets out a small content sigh as she looks down at the dark water. The stars reflected perfectly off of the surface making it look like a mirror. She looks up at the night sky and watches the bright stars twinkle. It was a pretty night with a nearly full moon and it was the time of year in Skyrim where the moon took up half of the sky. She watched it slowly rise with a small content smile on her face.

Sitting there in the water and in the quiet started to make her think back on some memories. Memories that her and Erik shared. This spot reminded her of the spot that her and Erik always went to outside of Rorikstead. It was in an open area and the river was just deep enough for fish to live in. Thinking about it made a different type of pain appear in her chest. Loneliness perhaps? Maybe guilt? Betrayal? She couldn't tell, she only knew that when Erik's face appeared in her mind, it made her heart break.

"Let's keep going, we're almost home." Skjor tells the two younger Companions walking behind him. Vilkas didn't reply but a small sigh escapes Ria. _'Can't we at least stop for dinner?'_ She thinks to herself with a frown on her face. Her stomach was growling and she felt like she was going to starve to death. "Looks like we're only a few miles away." Vilkas points out as he senses Ria's discomfort. Ria lets out another sigh. _'Still too far away...'_ She frowns more as she looks at her feet while they walk.

Vilkas ends up being the one lagging behind after walking for awhile. Skjor and Ria were both a ways a head of him but he didn't care. He needed the distance. It has only been a couple of days since he's decided to stop his transformations, to leave the hunt behind and he was already having withdrawals. He can feel his heart beating against his chest and his blood pumping through his veins. He can feel the beast inside him trying to claw its way out. The distance between him and the others is great but he can still hear their footsteps.

 _'Hold it together...'_ He tells himself as he clenches his fist tightly. He can feel his nails start to stab into his palm as they begin to sharpen on their own. _'No.'_ He clenches his jaw shut tight as his walking pace becomes slow. Breaking twigs in the distance makes his ear twitch and makes him stop. He quickly turns his head in the direction it was coming from and in the distance he can see a great Elk walking around, searching for grass to chew on. It was so far from him but he could hear it like it was right next to him.

 _'No.'_ He shuts his eyes and clenches his fists more, not caring that his palms were now dripping blood. He can hear a faint growl come from the back of his mind and suddenly the image of a wolf lunging at him with its claws out and teeth showing appear in his mind. It makes his eyes fly open and causes him to jump back as if a wolf really did jump at him, but nothing was there. Nothing but the beast inside him, commanding him to let it out. His breathing increases as he starts to look around in a panic. He can no longer control it, he has to let it out or he just might be torn to pieces from the inside.

"Hey." Ria's voice makes Skjor stop and turn to look at her. "Where's Vilkas?" She asks while looking around. Skjor starts to look around a bit but he already knows, he sensed the wolf inside him growing restless since they left Whiterun this morning. He knew it was only a matter of time till it took control and it would appear that, that was now. "He probably broke off to go to the bathroom or something." Skjor tells Ria while turning back around to continue to walk. "He knows how to get back, so don't worry about him." Ria turns to watch Skjor walk away for a moment and then turns back to look for Vilkas once more. "Right..." She said quietly as she turned back around to continue walking herself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey sorry guys if this chapter seemed to take longer to be uploaded! I've been working on it everyday as much as I could! This week has been busy so I apologize again! I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!**

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Hope let out a content sigh as she finished getting dressed in her warm clean cloths. That bath is exactly what she needed even though she was still plenty sore, but she didn't care. She gathers up her armor in her arms and then turns to walk back down the path. As she walks down the narrow trail she can hear light buzzing from small lightening bugs that liked to hang around the river. It was a peaceful, beautiful night and she was enjoying it.

 _ **SNAP!**_ A twig breaks nearby startling Hope. She stops and turns in the direction it came from. She stands there for a moment looking at her surroundings. She squints her eyes trying to see through the dark in the distance but it was hard. She had nothing for light besides the moon and its light only went so far, she swallows hard as she slowly turns her head back forward. _'It was probably just a rabbit.'_ She tells herself while beginning to walk back down the path. She wanted nothing more but to believe it was just a rabbit, but her fear told her otherwise.

It was big, this catch was big but it wasn't big enough, no, it wasn't big enough to satisfy the wolf within. It needed more and it was going to get more. What's that smell? It's coming from something big, something nearby. A wet nose is put to the ground and it inhales loose soil to catch the scent. It blows the dirt out of its nostrils and then raises its head in the air to sniff the passing breeze. There, it has it now. It gets low to the ground on all fours and prowls. It was hard to hide in the open area but luckily its fur was as black as night, so it could still take its prey by surprise.

It's closer now, it's so close infact that the beasts mouth is already beginning to water. It's never smelled anything like this before. It's taken down mammoths, giants and saber cats, but never has it come across something this big before. Whatever it was though, it was to be the beast's next meal. A small sigh catches the wolf's attention. It stops and lowers itself till its belly is touching the ground. Its ears perk and twitch as it hears walking footsteps. It's really close now, the wolf has to digs its claws into the soil to keep itself from lunging out too soon.

The large beast slowly crawls on the ground towards a set of bushes, it hides behind them and places its face into the bush so that it may get a peak at its next meal. It's not in view yet but it can hear it coming, it can smell it coming. Its mouth starts to salivate, it licks its upper lip with its long tongue. It licks up blood left over from its last kill and can taste the sweetness from it when it pulls its tongue back into its mouth, but it knows that it will be nothing compared to this new kill. The very thought of it was making the wolf become restless but it must remain still, it must do whatever it has to do to get this kill.

The scent is so close now, it's washing over the wolf like a strong tide from the ocean and just for a moment, it feels like it might drown. Its eyes widen when it sees a boot step in front of it. It readies itself to lunge but wait, somethings wrong. The wolf's eyes move up to the head and then focuses on the face. No this can't be! This, this is what it was smelling!? Just a mere human girl!? How can this be!? The smell coming off this girl is so great that it drives the wolf crazy but it doesn't know why. She's no normal girl, no normal girl can smell like this. But what is it exactly? It's something strong, something old. The beast tenses up as it focuses on her. It's something in her, in her blood. Something she was born with but it has yet to be awaken.

Just who, no, WHAT is she!? The wolf's claws dig deeper into the soil as it watches her walk down the path. Whatever she was, it knew that it must have her. The beast slowly leaves the bushes and begins to stalk after her, just a few more steps and it will have her. _'No, wait.'_ An inner voice that the beast thought was put far away comes back to it, making it stop. _'Don't.'_ The voice pleads to the wolf, but why? Who was she to him? Its eyes stay glued to the girl as the image of her face comes to its mind. Hold a moment, the wolf knows her, yes. It knows her because it's seen her through his eyes. It's felt his anger and strange attachment to her and it's smelled her sweet scent though his nose, but right now it was smelling a different scent from her. A scent that only the beast could take notice to because just like the blood in her veins, it too was old.

The wolf's jaw clenches as it takes a hesitant step forward, the voice inside it was begging it not to, but it just couldn't resist. It needed to taste her blood itself to see just exactly what she is. _'Stop!'_ He's screaming inside the wolf's head now but it doesn't care. It takes full control as it focuses its eyes on its target. She was getting farther away, it needed to do this now before she reached the main road. Nothing's going to stop it, nothing! _**SNAP!**_ It freezes and so does she. What was that? Another animal? Another human. No, it was the wolf. It can feel the broken twig beneath its giant paw.

It was so focused on the girl that it didn't see the large stick in its way. How foolish! It was a great hunter and an even better stalker and yet it forgot to look at its surroundings before drawing in close to its prey. It should've known better! A quiet frustrated growl rumbles deep in the beasts chest. It sees her head start to move, it quickly gets low to the ground and presses itself flat against the cold surface so that it will be hidden in the shadows. She was far enough away from it that if she were to look upon it, she could mistake it for a large rock or perhaps one of the many shadows on the ground.

It watches her turn her head both ways and look around carefully, it then sees her slightly turn around and look directly at it. She stands there staring at it and squinting her eyes trying to see it more clearly. The wolf tenses thinking that she sees it for a moment but just like it hoped, she moves her eyes away from it thinking it was just another shadow. It watches her turn back around and just stand there for a moment. It can sense the fear rising inside her, good, she should be scared. It sees her starting to walk back down the path but more quickly this time. It needed to hurry but it also needed to be more careful, it won't get another chance if it's caught again.

Eyes are on her back, she can feel eyes on her back, but she doesn't know where it's coming from or what it even is. It could just be a curious fox or elk watching from the distance, but still she needed to get back to the main road as quick as possible. Hope holds her bundled armor close to her chest as she hurries down the path. The longer she's on it the more afraid and isolated she feels.

The faster she moves the more certain she is that she is hearing following steps behind her because they too quicken to match her speed. She goes from walking, to fast walking, and now to running. She's running with fear and adrenaline fueling her. She can hear it, she can hear it running after her, she can hear its breathing. She doesn't know what it is but she does know she can't stop because whatever it is, is keen on catching her.

She's in a panic now and panicking causes sloppy footing. She's so focused on what might be behind her that she doesn't realize the clumsy steps she's taking and soon ends up tripping over her own feet. She goes down to the ground hard with her armor sprawling out on the ground in front of her. Her knees and arms hurt from the fall, the soil was hard and full of rocks so she knows she must of scraped herself up when she landed on the ground. She slowly sits up while rubbing one of her scraped elbows.

A low growl coming from behind makes her freeze in place. Her eyes widen as she feels the presence getting closer. A bitter hot puff of air lands on the back of her neck making her hair blow forward and land on her shoulders. She swallows hard as she feels fear begin to take over. A small glimmer catches her eye in the distance, she looks and sees just a few feet away from her was her belt with her sword peaking out from its sheathe. She clenches her fists tightly as she starts to slowly turn around to face whatever it was behind her.

When she turns the wolf snarls, fully showing its large teeth. Its gold eyes meet her green ones and burn into them. Her mouth falls open and her eyes widen as the large beast slowly stands up on its hind legs with its front claws falling to its side. It towers over her as it peers down at her with eager and hungry eyes that make her bottom lip tremble with fear. _'Don't!'_ The voice within shouts and pounds against the inners of the wolf with panicked fists, but it's too late. The wolf won't stop, not when its prey is this close. No, she has no chance in getting away.

The beast stands there for a moment but only a moment so that her fear can sink in and it can enjoy this moment. Enjoy the look of terror on her face before it devours her. The only thing that is heard in that moment is Hope's quickened breathing along with the wolfs eager breaths. Then suddenly, the beast lunges its head forward to let out a great roar while throwing its front claws back. In a split second Hope is on her feet and she's running, she's running fast and she doesn't plan on stopping. She leaps over her fallen armor and then grabs her sword when she passes it. When she picks up her sword, her belt is picked up along with it but she's able to shake it off the sword quickly so that it falls behind her.

She's fast but the wolf is faster. It's back on all fours as it chases Hope down, it snarls more with its teeth still showing as it focuses on Hope and Hope alone because gods be damned she will not get away! She's close to the main road now, if she can just reach it then perhaps the beast behind her will retreat, guards usually patrolled the main road to Whiterun so it would be outnumbered.

The wolf knows where she is going, the wolf knows what she is planning and it won't let her. No, it won't let her get away that easily. Even if they did reach the main road the wolf would still pursue her, it would take her down by a leg and then drag her back out into the wild. _'Stop!'_ No it won't stop. It can't stop, her scent was maddening and it needed to taste the power coming from her blood. It needed to feel her flesh tear and her bones break beneath its teeth and it would make sure that he felt it to. It would be his punishment for trying to hold it back from this kill.

The beast jumps high in the air and over Hope. It lands right in front of her making her come to a quick stop. She looked at it with panicked eyes and then turned right back around to make another run for it, but the wolf ran around her to cut her off making her let out a startled scream. It then started to circle around her so that she had no hope in running away again, no, now she really was the wolfs. She watches it with wide and scared eyes as she clenches her sword tightly in her fist.

Hope swallows hard as she watches the beast circle around her slowly. Its eyes burned into her as its open snarl drips thick saliva. It was hungry and it was hungry for her. _'What the hell is this thing!?'_ It looks like a wolf but it's not a wolf. No it's something straight out of a nightmare, it's a straight up monster! She clenches her jaw to keep it from trembling as she watches the beast continue to circle around her. When it reaches her side it suddenly turns and lunges right at her with its mouth open and teeth baring.

She's not sure what comes over her, perhaps it was from training? Maybe it's reflexes or just plain old fashioned instinct. Whatever it was, made Hope feel completely insane because instead of running away when the wolf lunged at her, she ran right towards it. Just when its claws where about to sink into her she ducts and then swings her sword forward as hard as she can cutting the under-belly of the wolf when it passes over her. The wolf lets out a loud painful yelp as it falls to the ground hard. Hope sees the opportunity and without wasting any time, is on the move.

This time she doesn't take the trail. Instead, she just keeps running from where the wolf lunged at her. It was uneven terrain but she didn't care because if it was difficult for her to run around then it would be difficult for the monster to. _'I'm not dying today!'_ She leaps over rocks and runs around large roots sticking from the ground but it doesn't slow her down. For a moment she thinks that the injury she gave the beast was enough for it to stop but she was wrong. The wolf knows these lands better than anybody and it knows how to go around the difficult areas.

The beast ran around the area that she was running through and was able to get in front of her before she could get any farther away. It jumps right in front of her path cutting her off and making her scream. She quickly turns back around to run in the opposite direction and the wolf pursues just as quickly. It winces from the cold air hitting its fresh wounds but it doesn't care, it doesn't stop. It's right on her heels now and it was angry. No way was she going to get away from it now.

The wolf quickly lunges forward and slashes at the back of her leg deeply cutting it with its large claw. She lets out a painful cry as she falls to the ground hard. When she hits the ground she drops the sword, she lifts her head up to see if her sword is in reach but it's not. It's not even close, it must of slid when it hit the ground. She tries to get up but before she can even get to her knees the giant wolf places a paw on her back and forces her back down to the ground. The beast puts all of its weight on her making her cry and whimper in pain. It slowly lowers its head down to the back of her neck and inhales her scent deeply. A low eager growl rumbles in its chest as saliva starts to drip from its mouth. Oh, it was going to enjoy this.

She can't breathe. She can't move. She can't even scream for help, all she can do is cry. She winces when she feels more weight being pressed down on her as the wolf lowers itself closer to her. She can feel strands of her hair slightly lift in the air when the beast inhales and she winces when she feels its saliva hit her skin. When it growls she bites her lower lip to keep it from trembling anymore but that doesn't stop the tears. Just a bit ago she was so sure she would survive this but whatever confidence she had then was now gone. She's trapped and all she can do is wait for the wolf to sink its teeth into her neck.

It's time, it's finally time and the beast doesn't waste another second. Its jaw is held open wide as it brings its mouth down to sink its teeth into her throat, but something stops it. Something inside stops it right when its teeth were about to come into contact with her flesh. _'I won't let you.'_ His voice is louder this time and it echos in the wolfs mind. The wolf growls loudly at his interruption. It tries to defy him and continue but it can't, he won't let it. _'I won't let you hurt her.'_ His voice echos again causing the wolf to have a head ache. He won't let it!? He doesn't command the wolf the wolf commands him!

It starts to slowly press its paw down more into her back with its claws cutting into her skin. She lets out a painful cry as blood starts to pool beneath its paw. _'No, stop!'_ His voice is much louder now, it's so loud that it makes the wolf wince. It slowly lifts its paw from her back as well as its claws. He was regaining control but not easily, the wolf was putting up a great deal of a fight.

Hope lays there with her eyes shut and tears full of pain streaming down her cheeks. She sniffs and whimpers from the great weight of the beast being pressed down on her as well as its sharp claws digging into her back. But something suddenly changes, she can feel the wolf release some of its weight off of her and she can feel its sharp claws leave her back. She slowly opens her eyes. _'What's happening?'_ She can now feel its paw completely lift off of her back. Was it hesitating now? Did it change its mind? Something was off about the whole thing.

 _'I won't let you hurt her.'_ His voice rings in the wolfs head again making it slowly back away from Hope. It's completely off of her now and standing just behind her. It shuts its eyes tightly trying to block him out and regain control but it couldn't. He was too strong now and too determined to keep her safe.

Hope partially sits up on her elbows and then turns to lay on her side so that she can look back at the beast. She furrows her eyebrows down when she looks at it. She watches it bring its claws to its head while continuing to back away from her. It looks like it was struggling with something, but what? Hope slowly turns completely around to where she is sitting up on her bottom, she watches the beast slowly open its eyes and this time instead of staring at her with hungry gold eyes, it was staring at her with familiar icy blue eyes that had the look of regret in them. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she continues to stare into its eyes.

She didn't know what was happening but she did know that this was the time to get away. She keeps her eyes on it as she moves to get to her feet but the moment she puts weight on her injured leg she falls right back to the ground with a painful cry escaping from her. She looks at her leg and can see blood still leaving the wound. The cut was deep and she wasn't going anywhere, not with her leg in this condition. She inhales sharply while putting some pressure on the wound to try and slow down the bleeding but it wasn't working.

He watches more tears trail down her cheeks and he watches her wince when her hand comes into contact with her wounded leg. He quickly moves his eyes down to the ground below her leg and can see blood pooling fast, he knows she's lost a lot of blood and he knows that if she doesn't get help soon, she won't make it. The very thought of it made a small whimper escape, it made her quickly look up at him with shocked eyes. He's regained control but can't transform back, not in front of her, not after what he's done. But he knows he needs to do something, so he holds out one of his claws towards her and when he does she winces like a scared pup and then quickly scoots away from him in a panic. _'Of course.'_ He should've known better.

 _ **SLAM!**_ Something hard hits him making him yelp and stumble sideways. For a moment he sees stars, but he's able to regain himself quickly. He shakes his head and then looks in the direction he was attacked. His eyes widen when he sees it was Skjor and he was charging at him again with his giant steel shield held up in the air. Before he can do anything Skjor slams his shield hard into his face making him yelp again. He quickly turns away before Skjor can hit him again and makes a run for it.

Hope watches Skjor with wide eyes, she then jumps from feeling a sudden touch to her arm. _'What! Another one!'_ Is all she can think as she yells and tries to scoot away. "It's okay, it's just me!" Ria grabs her arm and turns her so that she sees her. "Ria! Thank the gods!" Hope cries as she grabs Ria's arms. Ria quickly looks her over, she sees the giant slash marks on her leg and by the way Hope was slouching over she could tell she had some kind of injury behind her. Ria quickly looks back up at Skjor who was just about to pursue after the beast. "What was that!?" She asks in a panic. Skjor quickly looks to Ria and then Hope. "Get her out of here Ria!" He orders her completely ignoring her question.

Ria and Hope both watch him run after the beast. Ria looks back to Hope and can see her color was starting to fade. "Okay, we need to hurry." Ria grabs Hope's arm and lifts her to her feet. Hope inhales sharply when weight is placed down on her injured leg, she almost falls over again but Ria catches her and holds her in place. "You can't walk, can you?" Ria realizes as she looks back down at her injury. Hope shakes her head in response as she bends over to grab her leg just above the injury. With a small sigh and ready nod, Ria takes Hope's arm and puts it around her neck. She allows Hope to put her weight on her as Ria wraps her other arm around Hope's waist so that she can help her move. "Alright, lets go." Ria said as they started to move in the direction of the road.

Skjor follows the trail of blood and the strong scent. He can also see in the soil large paw prints that slowly ascend into human foot prints. A scowl already forms on Skjor's face as he closes in on him. Soon he finds himself standing ontop of a small cliff that hangs over a creek and down below in the creek, he finds Vilkas. He was naked on the ground while being on his hands and knees. He had one hand on a deep cut that went from his chest down to the bottom of his abdomen.

Skjor moved his eyes down to the shallow water below Vilkas and could see the water had begun to turn red from the blood coming from Vilkas's wound. He moves his eyes back to him and can see him panting heavily from the change back. "You fool." Skjor's voice made Vilkas jump and then quickly look up at him. Skjor examines the knot and bruise forming on Vilkas's cheek bone where he hit him with his shield when he was in wolf form. Skjor finally looks back at Vilkas's eyes and gives him a mean glare.

Vilkas winces from his glare and then looks down at the creek below him. "You any idea of what you've just done?" Skjor starts to scold him as he walks down the cliff and into the creek to stand beside Vilkas. Vilkas keeps his head down while not responding. "You could of killed her!" Skjor continues loudly. "I know!" Vilkas yells finally responding. He looks up at Skjor with an angry expression on his face but it was pointed towards Skjor, it was anger pointed at himself. "What happened?" Skjor asked him a calmer voice but he still had a glare on his face.

Vilkas sighs as he lowers his head back down. "I lost control." Vilkas answers him in a low, regrettable voice. Skjor furrows his eyebrows down at him. "What do you mean you lost control?" Skjor asks. Vilkas sighs as he shifts to his side and then moves back so he can sit on his bottom. The water in the creek was high enough to cover his manhood. "When I turned, I had control for a while but then..." He closes his eyes remembering the strong scent that was in the air that stirred the beast inside him. "I just lost control." Is all he cares to say for an explanation as he opens his eyes back up to look at Skjor.

Skjor furrows his eyebrows more with a frown on his face. He could tell Vilkas was lying and knew there was more to the story. "Really? Just like that?" He asks while crossing his arms over his chest, showing his irritation. Vilkas stared at him for a moment and then let out a sigh while looking down at the water. "I could smell her and for some reason I lost control." He explains in defeat. "We never go after people so why-" "I don't know." Vilkas cuts him off as he looks back up at him. Skjor stares at him while keeping his eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed. "All I know is the moment Hope's scent hit me the beast took control. It was like, it was its own person, it even had its own thoughts." Vilkas shifts his eyes to the side feeling uncomfortable explaining it.

Skjor lifts a hand to his face and scratches the side of his cheek. "Hmm.." He starts to think, trying to make sense of it all. A low frustrated groan escapes Skjor catching Vilkas's attention. Vilkas lifts an eyebrow up at him. "This all of Kodlak's fault!" Skjor finally speaks his mind. Vilkas quickly furrows his eyebrows down at him. "If he had never come to us with his thoughts on this matter you and your brother would of never agreed to stop the transformations and this would of never have happened!" Skjor rants while throwing his arms up angrily in the air. "I bet gold that you lost control because of withdrawals you must of been feeling and that caused the beast side of you to take control and go after human blood like an actual wolf would." Skjor goes on while pacing back and forth in front of Vilkas.

"Hey!" Vilkas shouts making Skjor stop and look at him. Vilkas slowly gets to his feet, when he stands completely straight he winces from the fresh cut on his body. It stopped bleeding but it was still very sore. "Kodlak had nothing to do with this." Vilkas said trying to defend the old man. "Of course you would defend him." Skjor shakes his head while looking away and crossing his arms. "I'm serious!" Vilkas shouts again making Skjor look back at him. "Kodlak may have made his opinion known to all of us, but the decision to stop the transformations was me and my brother's decision alone. No one talked us into it and no one made us." Vilkas explains with a contempt expression on his face. Skjor stares at him with a crooked frown on his face and his eyebrows forward.

After a while of intense silence between the two Skjor's express finally eases up as a small sigh escapes from him. He shifts his eyes down at the deep cut on Vilkas's body and then looks back up at him. "Come on." He tells him as he turns around. "Let's go find your armor." Skjor gestures a hand out to tell Vilkas to follow him. "But I'm naked." Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down. "It's the middle of the night, no ones going to see you." Skjor replies. "The moons bright enough for people to see me!" Vilkas covers his private parts with both of his hands as he just realizes that. "Consider it punishment then!" Skjor calls back to him with a hint of amusement in his voice. Low grumbles come from Vilkas as he quickly follows after Skjor while crouching down to try and hide himself.

Ria and Hope were both back at Jorrvaskr. When they reached Whiterun, Hope seemed to have reached her limit where she could barely stay conscious, so Ria had to carry her on her back. When Ria walked into the building Farkas was awake enjoying a midnight snack. When he saw them he jumped to his feet and immediately took them to Aela's room. Aela was asleep when they entered her room but once she saw Hope, it didn't take her long to fully wake up.

"Farkas go fetch us some water water and towels." Aela orders him as she digs through her drawers for bandages. Farkas nods and then quickly leaves the room to do what he is told. Ria sits Hope on Aela's bed and the moment she does Hope just falls backwards into the mattress. "Hey, hey!" Aela quickly goes to Hope and grabs her arms to sit her up. She then grabs her face with her hand to make her look at her. "I need you to try and stay awake, you could have a concussion." She tells her. Hope looks at her with lidded eyes and a wobbly head. "I didn't hit my head on anything..." Hope mumbles weakly. "Doesn't matter." Aela gives her face a quick smack to make her jump awake.

Ria sits next to Hope while holding onto one of her arms to keep her sitting up. "She had an injury on her back to." Ria tells Aela as she moves her head back to look at the marks on Hopes back. "What in a oblivion happened to you?" Aela asks as she walks back over to Hope with bandages in hand. "I..." Hope furrows her eyebrows as she starts to remember what the beast looked like. Aela looked down at the bandages she had and then let out a sigh. "These won't be enough, I'll go and see if Kodlak has any, he usually carries a lot of supplies like this. Besides, he needs to know what happened." Aela tells them both as she puts the bandages down next to Hope on the bed and then turns to leave the room.

Ria slowly peeled the back of Hope's shirt off of her wound. Hope jumps a little and winces. "Sorry." Ria apologizes as she continues to try and examine the wound. "I think you're going to have to take off your shirt for me to get a good look at this wound." Ria tells Hope while looking back at her. Hope slowly nods and then does what Ria says. She winces when she lifts her shirt up over the wound, Ria helps her get it off the rest of the way. "Here." Ria quickly gives her a pillow to hold to cover her breasts. "Farkas is coming back with water and towels, I imagine you probably don't want him to see you naked." Ria said with a small giggle. Hope nods and takes the pillow, she holds it close to her chest.

Ria slowly lets go of Hope's arm and waits a moment to make sure that she can sit up on her own. When she's sure, she leans back and examines Hope's wound. Her eyes widen when she sees it. The wound was five puncture's that went deep into her back, it was the placing of each puncture that threw Ria off. She examined it trying to determine what possibly could of done it. She told herself that what Skjor went after was just a really big wolf but now she's not so sure because each puncture on Hope's back looked like it came from giant claw. Ria places a hand over her mouth as she watches blood run out of the wound. The bleeding slowed down but it still hasn't stopped.

"I'm back." Aela walks into the room with Kodlak right behind her. Kodlak goes straight to Hope and quickly kneels down in front of her to examine her face. "You look awful girl..." He points out while eyeing her pale face. Hope can only smile weakly at the obvious comment. They all hear approaching footsteps from the hall and all look towards the door. Farkas quickly walks in with a big bowl of heated water and fresh towels. "Here I've got some-whoa!" Farkas starts but then stops seeing Hope was shirtless. With out thinking his eyes immediately go down to her breasts but luckily they were covered with a pillow. He stumbles back a bit almost spilling the water and then quickly spins around so that his back is facing them.

"Water." Is all he can get out. "Oh please." Aela walks to Farkas and takes the bowl and towels from him. "It's not like you haven't seen a woman's body before ice brain." Aela smirks as she walks away from him. Farkas only clears his throat while keeping his back to them. Hope was so out of it that she didn't care that Farkas had just basically seen her naked, well half naked. He still doesn't know what she really looks like thanks to the pillow. Aela sits the bowl of water down on the ground along with the towels, she then kneels down in front of Hope's injured leg.

"Now tell us, what happened?" Kodlak asks keeping his eyes on Hope's face. "Uh..." Hope tries to think but it was hard with the blood loss. "I was attacked." She finally speaks. "apparently." Kodlak looks down and watches Aela rip off the bottom part of Hope's pants. "What attacked you?" Kodlak asks while looking back up at Hope. Hope furrows her eyebrows down with her eyes becoming half lidded again. _'What was it?'_ She asks herself as she feels herself become light-headed.

Suddenly, the image of the beast comes to her mind. She remembers its large claws and large teeth, she remembers its monstrous growl, but most of all what she really remembers is the way it towered over her. The way it stood on its hind legs like a person but it wasn't a person, it was a wolf? No, it wasn't that either. Then it comes to her. Her eyes quickly open all the way as a panicked gasp comes from her. She lunges forward grabbing Kodlak's shoulders. He looks at her with wide surprised eyes. "It was a werewolf!" She tells them in a yell. Aela stops, Kodlak's jaw tightens, and Farkas's muscles tense.

They all had thought that already both wished it wasn't true. There was a hint of Vilkas's scent coming from her wounds that they could smell but they all told themselves it couldn't of been him, but it was him. "Don't be silly." Aela breaks the silence with a small smile. "Werewolves are nothing but stories." She tells her but Hope quickly shakes her head. "No, no! I know what I saw!" Hope quickly tells them again. "It was probably just a big wolf that scared you and fear can play tricks on your mind." Kodlak tries to tell her but she just shakes her head again. "No! It was a werewolf I tell you!" Her grip tightens on Kodlak's shoulders.

"It stood like a person but it wasn't a person, it was bigger than a person and a wolf combined!" Hope tells them more with fear in her voice. Ria stares down at the bed thinking. She then feels Hope grab her arm to get her attention. Ria looks up at her face and into her eyes. "Tell them Ria! You saw it!" She almost sounded like she was begging. Ria's eyebrows knit together in concern as she continues to look into Hope's eyes. She thinks back to what it looked like but she couldn't really be sure, it all happened so fast that she never got a good look at it. In Hope's eyes was truth but it could just be her truth. Kodlak was right, fear can play tricks on one's mind making them believe anything, so to Hope it could've been a werewolf but in reality that was impossible, right?

"They're right Hope." Ria gives Hope a small comforting smile but she could tell that she was comforting no one. "It was just an usually big wolf." Ria tells her with a confident nod. Hope quickly retracts her hand from Ria's arm and looks at her like she had just betrayed her and that stung Ria right in the heart. "I'm telling you..." Hope slowly looks down at her lap with a frown on her face. "I know what I saw..." She says quietly. "We know." Aela sighs as she cleans Hope's wound. Ria grabs one of the damp towels and starts to clean the wound on Hope's back.

"Here's the last piece." Skjor gave Vilkas one of his boots. "Thanks." Vilkas mumbled as he took it and put it on. He was finally fully dressed again and luckily, no one saw him while he was naked. He then lets out a sigh as he looks down at the ground. Skjor watches him while crossing his arms over his chest. "When do you think we should head back?" Vilkas asks in a low voice. "We'll give them an hour." Skjor answers. Vilkas nods in agreement, he then walks over to a large rock and sits down on top of it. He sighs as he rests an elbow on his knee and then rests his forehead into the palm of his hand. "I'm sure she's fine." Skjor tells him as he senses his worry. "I know." Vilkas sighs again as he is now rubbing his forehead.

"Then what's the problem?" Skjor asks while walking over to him. "I'm never going to forgive myself for this..." Vilkas whispers as he continues to rub his forehead. "It wasn't really your fault though, you did say you lost control." He assures him but it wasn't working. "But I watched myself do it." Vilkas explains. "I watched myself attack her and watched myself make her cry." Vilkas now has both of his hands up to his face. He was repeatedly rubbing his eyes with them. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to face her again." He says in a low voice.

"You have to." Skjor tells him. Vilkas looks up at him with his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "If you suddenly distance yourself from her, she's going to grow suspicious and know something is up." Skjor explains. "You're just going to have to act normal around her the best you can." Skjor tells him with his arms crossed. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at him. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" Vilkas shoots up from the rock but immediately regrets it. He quickly hunches over placing a hand over his armored chest. He almost forgot about his wound. "In case you forgot." He starts as he slowly stands up straight. "I nearly killed her just moments ago." Vilkas furrows his eyebrows back down at Skjor.

Skjor watches him keeping a stern look on his face. "I know Vilkas, but we can't allow her to find out our secrets just yet, you know that." Skjor uncrosses his arms while keeping his stern look. Vilkas sighs as he brings his hand back up to his face to rub his forehead. "You're just going to have to try. I know it won't be easy, but for her sake..." He trails off and for once, Skjor was actually being sympathetic. "I know." Vilkas replies with a sigh as he sits back down on the rock. "For her sake...I'll try..." He finally agrees with another sigh.

Aela and Ria had just finished up bandaging Hope's wounds. They dressed her in clean cloths and laid her down on Aela's bed. "You can sleep here tonight." Aela tells her while bringing the covers over her. "Where will you sleep?" Hope asks with her eyes already closed. "Don't worry about me, just rest." Aela reassures her with a smile. Hope slowly nods as she feels herself already starting to sink into the soft bed. She can hear Ria and Aela quietly leave the room with the door shutting behind them. Hope gives in to the exhaustion washing over her body and soon falls into a much needed, deep sleep.

The hour goes by slowly and it feels like it takes eternity to get back to Jorrvaskr, but when they do get back Vilkas is relieved to see that nobody is up and wondering around. His thoughts immediately go to Hope and he instantly wants to search for her, but he knows it wouldn't be a good idea. "Come on, let's go take a look at that wound of yours." Skjor says as they walk down the stairs into the lower part of Jorrvaskr.

They both walk down the hall and are both surprised to see Kodlak, Aela, and Farkas waiting for them in the middle of it. "Took you two long enough.." Aela said while turning to them. By the way they were looking at him, Vilkas could tell that they already knew. He turns his head and looks away from them. "We need to talk." Kodlak spoke in a stern voice with a hint of anger to it. Vilkas winces from it and then gives him an understood nod.

They all go to Vilkas's room and when they get there, he immediately tells them what he told Skjor. Aela and Kodlak looked shocked while Farkas looked uncomfortable. He's never seen his brother look so troubled before and Vilkas was always the tough one. "This is disturbing indeed." Kodlak said while scratching his beard. "She's already guessed that it was a werewolf that attacked her." Aela said while keeping her eyes on Vilkas. Vilkas tenses up as he continues to look down at the floor. "We've convinced her it was just a wolf though." Aela said with a small shrug. "Good." Vilkas sighs in relief.

"So..." Farkas starts. "What do we do now?" He asks while looking over to the others. "What do you mean? We do what we always do." Aela answers as she looks back at him. "And what exactly do we always do when someone is attacked by a werewolf?" Farkas asks with his eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing." Skjor answers for her. "We do nothing, because it wasn't a werewolf, it was just a wolf." Skjor tells him with a nod. Farkas stares at them both for a moment with furrowed eyebrows and then nods with a sigh. "So...how bad were her wounds?" Vilkas asks slightly looking up at Aela.

Aela looks at him. "They were bad and she's lost a lot of blood but after a couple days of rest and clean bandages, she should be fine." Aela tells him with a smile. Vilkas lets out a deep relieved sigh as he rubs his forehead with his hand. "Thank the gods..." He whispers. "Alright Vilkas." Skjor takes a step towards him. "Get changed out of your armor so Aela can tend to your wound." Skjor nudges his head towards Vilkas's chest. Aela lifts an eyebrow up at Skjor and then at Vilkas. "You got injured?" She asks. Vilkas nods in response. "Oh yeah." Skjor said with a small smirk. "Hope managed to cut him with her sword and she cut him pretty deep." Skjor explains. "Really?" Aela raises her eyebrows with her own smirk. "I'm slightly proud." She chuckles as she leaves to get bandages from Kodlak's room. Skjor follows her.

"By the way." She slightly looks back at him over her shoulder. "I'm spending the night in your room again tonight." She tells him with a small grin on her face. Skjor chuckles in response as he continues to follow her.


	10. Chapter 10

Hope wakes up late the next day but she doesn't know how late till she's up and in the main hall to eat. As she walks up the stairs, she has to hold on to the wall beside them for support. Her leg was sore and stiff but her back wasn't so bad, the injury on it wasn't as bad as the injury on her leg. When she reaches the top step she sees everyone gathered at the table for what she thinks is breakfast.

The first one to notice her was Torvrar. "Hey! Look who finally decided to get out of bed!" He hollers making everyone turn and look at her. She lifts an eyebrow up at him as she limps over to the table. "What do you mean by that?" She asks with now furrowed eyebrows. "It's lunch time Hope." Ria tells her with a small giggle. "Huh?!" Hope exclaims shocked. "How come nobody woke me up!?" Hope asked while slamming both hands down on the table. "Because they told us not to." Athis answers after taking a drink out of his mug.

"But I could've been training all day." Hope said while standing up straight and crossing her arms. "Oh no." Aela's voice from behind makes her uncross her arms and turn to look at her. "You're not going to be doing any training for a while." Aela tells her as she walks to her. "Not with those wounds." She nudges her head towards her leg. "Pfft. I'm fine." Hope crosses her arms back over her breasts. "Oh really?" Aela lifts an eyebrow up at her. Suddenly Skjor is next to her and without any warning slaps the back of her leg hard.

"Ah!" A pained yell comes from Hope as she falls over. "See, you're not fine." Aela points out while helping Hope back up to her feet. Hope looks at her with a contempt expression on her face. "Listen to her whelp, she knows what she is talking about." Skjor cuts in giving Hope a light pat to the shoulder. A small irritated groan comes from Hope as she watches Skjor walk away. "You can watch others train but other than that, you need to rest or you won't heal." Aela places a friendly hand on Hope's shoulder. Hope looks at her. "Understand?" Aela asks with a smile. A small sigh escapes Hope as she gives Aela an understood nod. "Good." Aela squeezes her shoulder and then walks away. "I have a job to do today anyways, so I really wouldn't of been able to train you." She gives Hope a small wave before leaving the building.

Hope lets out another small sigh as she starts to limp towards an empty chair next to Ria. She slowly takes her seat and then lets out a relieved sigh when she's finally sitting. "How are you feeling?" Ria asks with a smile. "As you would expect..." Hope answers while looking down at the platters full of food in front of her. Ria's smile slowly fades as she senses Hope's distance towards her. Hope started to reach for some food but loud clattering from the chair next to her interrupts her.

She looks over and sees that Torvrar has taken the seat next to her. _'Of course...'_ She thinks to herself with a quiet sigh. "So! I hear you were attacked by a wolf last night!" He said with a smile while leaning on the table with his elbow. A contempt expression forms on Hope's face as she looks down at the table. "So...It was only one wolf that took you down?" Torvrar asks with a smirk. The contempt expression on Hope's face changes into a sneer. "I-it was a big wolf!" Ria cuts in trying to defend Hope but she seemed to only make it worse.

Torvrar slaps his knee and laughs loudly. A different chuckle catches their attention. Hope looks up and can see Njada sitting across from her on the other side of the table, with a smirk on her face. "I knew it was a mistake to let someone like you into the Companions! I could tell you were weak the moment I saw you." Njada speaks loudly for all to hear as she leans back in her chair with her arms crossed over her breasts. Hope sneers at her. _'It wasn't a wolf!'_ She wants to tell them. She wants to scream at them, but she can't. No one believed her last night and no one would believe her now. They were making fun of her for being weak, she didn't need them to start making fun of her for being crazy.

"That's enough!" Vilkas's loud voice made everybody jump. They all shifted in their chairs to look at him. He was sitting in his usual spot with his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. Like always, Farkas was right next to him and he too was glaring at the ones who were making fun of Hope. "She's been through enough, she doesn't need your crap." Vilkas glares at both Njada and Torvrar making them wince and look away. Hope blinked as she continued to stare at Vilkas. She was surprised that he defended her like that, it was the last thing she thought he'd ever do.

Vilkas turns his head to her and for a moment, their eyes meet and they stare at each other. She watches a small frown form on Vilkas's face and then sees something appear in his eyes, but he looks away before she can figure out what it was. She shifts her eyes to Farkas who was looking away from her rather awkwardly. That's when she remembers that he basically saw her naked last night. _'Oh yeah...'_ She quietly clears her throat and looks back at the table to start grabbing food.

Hope grabs a good amount of food for her plate but something was bothering her and keeping her from eating. She shifts her eyes to the side to look at Ria. "Hey." Hope grabs her attention. Ria looks at her with a lifted eyebrow. "Do you really believe that it was just a wolf?" She asks quietly so that no one else can hear her. Ria swallows her water down hard and then slowly looks away from Hope to look down at the table. Hope watches her clench her jaw and her muscles become tense. "You want an honest answer?" She asks quietly.

Hope nods while quickly leaning towards her. "I don't know what it was, I don't know what I saw." Ria slightly turns her head to look back at Hope. "But I would honestly rather believe that it was just a really big wolf than...something else..." She admits with eyebrows knit together. Hope sighs as she sits back up straight and looks down at the table. She can hear Ria's fork and knife beginning to scrape against her plate indicating that she went back to eating. Another sigh escapes Hope as she scoots back her chair and then gets up.

Ria watches her with a mouth full of food, she sees Hope quickly make her way towards the doors going outside. Ria swallows her food. "Where are you going?" She asks with eyebrows knit together in concern. "Outside." Is all Hope tells her before opening the door and leaving the building. Vilkas watched with grimace on his face. ' _What's she going out there for?'_ Vilkas can't help but wonder as he continues to stare at the door. "Mmm." Vilkas groans as he starts to think more about something else now. With a sigh Vilkas gets up and leaves the table, but he doesn't head outside yet. Instead, he goes for the stairs that lead into the lower part of Jorrvaskr. "Where are you going?" Farkas asks while taking a drink of his mead. "To get something." Vilkas answers him as he descends down the stairs.

Hope limps outside and looks around. Nobody has come outside yet, she couldn't help but feel relieved to be alone. She needed to be alone to collect her thoughts. She walks past the few tables that sit outside and goes out into the training yard. She looks around and on the stone wall she sees one of the many weapon racks that the Companions had and on it was the bow and set of arrows she was training with. _'Good, Aela didn't put them away.'_ She thinks to herself while making her way over to them.

She winces when she bends down to pick up the bag of arrows. She carefully places them on her back and then takes the bow off of the weapon rack. She knew Aela told her to just rest for the day but she couldn't. She needed to do something to keep her mind busy. Hope walks over to the spot she was standing in yesterday. She remembers hitting the target once last night and hopes that she will be able to hit it some more today.

"What are you doing?" Vilkas's voice startles Hope causing her to jump and let out a surprised gasp. She quickly turns to face him and then furrows her eyebrows down when she sees that it is him. Vilkas looks at her with an eyebrow raised as he examines the bag of arrows on her back and the hunting bow in her hand. "Non of your business." She tells him with her nose wrinkled. Vilkas scoffs at her smart mouth. "It is my business. Aela told you not to train today." He approaches her with his eyebrows furrowed. "Well Aela isn't here." Hope quickly looks away from him.

"Well I am." He irritably responds. Hope slightly moves her head to look back at him with a lifted eyebrow. That's when she notices that Vilkas is actually wearing casual ware instead of his heavy armor. On him is a white shirt made of cloth and a normal set of tan pants with boots on underneath them. She can't help but admire the way his muscles look in the tight shirt he wears. She clears her throat and looks back away as she feels her face become heated. "Why aren't you wearing your armor?" She asks while keeping her eyes away from him.

Vilkas looks down at himself for a moment and then looks back up at her while clearing his throat. "It's my day off." He tells her as he scratches at his chest. "Companions get days off?" She asks looking back at him, being slightly amused. "Occasionally." He answers with a shrug and small smile. A small chuckle escapes Hope as she starts to think of the silly idea. They were mighty warriors who took on hard jobs for people, so it seemed silly to think about them taking a day off to lounge around.

"Back to the point." Vilkas clears his throat again changing the subject. Hope lifts an eyebrow up at him. "You should listen to Aela. After..." He trails off as the image of Hope pinned to the ground beneath him comes to his mind. "After what?" Hope asks keeping her eyebrow lifted. Vilkas quickly clears his throat again as he forces the image to go away. "After what happened to you last night, it would be unwise to push yourself with training." He tells her. Hope quickly looks away from him with her eyes down at the ground.

Vilkas stares at her for a moment and then sighs as he walks to her back. She turns her body to follow him with her eyes and then lifts an eyebrow up at him when he tries to stand behind her. "What are you-" "Just stand still." Vilkas cuts her off as he grabs her shoulders and gently turns her around. Hope keeps an eyebrow raised as she stands there looking forward. Vilkas removes the bag of arrows from her and then grabs the end of her shirt to lift it. "What are you doing!?" Hope asks as she quickly pulls her shit back down.

"Relax!" Vilkas tells her with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm just going to check your wound." He explains while grabbing the end of her shirt again. "How did you know I had one on my back?" She asks as she allows him to lift the back of her shirt up. "Aela told me about it this morning." Vilkas quickly lies. "Oh." Hope said with a small nod indicating that she believed him. A small sigh comes from Vilkas as he lifts the back of Hope's shirt to her shoulders. He examines the bandages wrapped around the lower part of her torso to cover the wound. He can tell that they needed to be changed soon.

"Where's the tie to this thing?" He asks while looking around her back for it. Hope just stands there for a moment thinking and then tenses up uncomfortably. "What?" Vilkas asks sensing her discomfort. "She tied the bandages together in front." She tells him quietly. "Oh." Vilkas breaths out. "Where?" He asks in a quiet tone that matches hers. "Here, let me see if I can get it." She said quickly as she started to struggle with the tight knot.

Vilkas waits for a bit and watches her hands fiddle with the knot from over her shoulder. After a while of fighting with it, Hope lets out a defeated sigh and lowers her arms back down. "I can't get it..." She admits with a frown. "Here, let me try." Vilkas said while keeping the tone of his voice quiet. He slowly reaches his hands around her waist and when he does, he can feel her become tense. He has to stand close to her so he can look over her shoulder at the knot.

Vilkas thought standing that close to Hope would be irritating and the last thing he ever wanted to do, but it wasn't. Vilkas finds himself inching closer to her as he runs his hands up her stomach to reach the knotted bandages. He can feel her shiver from his hot breath hitting the back of her neck and he can see a warm red color appear on her freckles on her cheeks. The longer he stood close to her the more the heat between them increased. It was heat he thought was impossible for them, but it was there and he knew she could feel it too.

His hands worked with the knot slowly, due to it being too tight but a little of it was on purpose. He couldn't bring himself to step away from her just yet, even though being this close to her was maddening. But not in the bad way, it was maddening because of the scent he was getting off of her. The sweet scent she carried, the sweet scent that he could smell even when he was in a totally different room than her. At first he thought it was just because she was new and that he needed to get used to it, but he could never get used to it because he could never get enough of it.

She smelled like warm cinnamon and fresh spices that one would use to make sweets. Her scent reminded him of happy days when he was a child and he didn't have too many of those, so it calmed him and made him feel relaxed. The stubble on the bottom of his face rubs against her bare neck as his nose comes into contact with her head just below her hair-line. Without thinking, Vilkas inhaled against her filling his nostrils with her scent. He felt her shiver against him again while also feeling goosebumps rise on her skin beneath his nose.

"I think you got!" Hope tells him loudly making him jump and take a step back. He quickly clears his throat as he starts to unwrap the bandages around her. Vilkas can feel his own face heat up from that heated moment between them. He carefully peels the bandages off of her wound and examines it closely. The punctures on her back had already scabbed over and were healing nicely. "It looks good." He tells her as he starts to re-wrap the bandages around her. He ties them together in a tight knot and then lowers her shirt back down. He hears Hope let out a small sigh as she smooths the bottom of her shirt out.

"Go sit, I want to check the one on your leg too." He says while looking down at her hurt leg. Hope turns and looks at him with a lifted eyebrow. "What?" He asks. "Why do you care about my injuries?" She asks. "Because Aela's gone and someone has to keep an eye on them." He tells her while gesturing a hand out towards one of the tables and chairs. Hope looks at him suspiciously and then limps over to the sitting area. She grabs the nearest chair and then pulls it out to take a seat. When she sits down, Vilkas kneels down in front of her and grabs her injured leg.

She inhales sharply when his hand comes into contact with her injury. "Sorry." He apologizes quickly while removing her shoe and then carefully lifting her pant-leg up. Vilkas inhales deeply as he gently holds her leg up so he can begin to unwrap the bandage. He finds himself admiring her slim leg and that made him start to wonder about...things. He bites his tongue to force himself out of those dirty thoughts as he finishes unwrapping her leg. He turns her leg slightly so he can get a good look at the wound.

Hope sees Vilkas's jaw become tense and then something appear in his eyes as he looks at her injury. Vilkas moves his hand to his head and pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at him. "Something wrong?" She asks slightly concerned. A small sigh leaves Vilkas as he removes his hand from his face. "No, it seems to be healing nicely." He tells her with a low voice. "Doesn't sound like it." She points out while keeping her eyebrows furrowed. Vilkas moves his eyes up to her face and realizes that she caught on to the unease in his voice.

He clears his throat as he starts to re-bandage her leg. "They're just deep is all but they are healing nicely, they'll probably scar though." He explains while tieing the bandages together around her leg. She nods already knowing that. "I suggest you change the bandages soon." Vilkas advises as he gets back up to his feet. "If you like, I could help you." He offers while moving a hand to the back of his neck to rub it. Hope looks up at him with surprised eyes. She blinks and stares at him for a moment and then slightly looks back down at her leg. "That's okay, I'll probably get Ria to help me or something." She tells him with a faint blush forming on her cheeks.

Vilkas understands with a nod as he lowers his hand back down. "I meant what I said before by the way." He tells her. "If you push yourself with these wounds, you're only going to make recovery take longer and make you're condition worse." He says while crossing his arms over his chest. Hope wrinkles her nose at him again and then turns her head to look away from him. "Anyways." He sighs as he starts to fiddle with something on his belt. She looks back up to watch him. She moves her eyes down to his belt and sees a familiar sword and sheathe tied to it. "I did come out here for a reason and this is it." He says while holding the weapon out to her.

Hope stands up from her chair and takes it from Vilkas's hand. She slides the sword out of its sheathe and is surprised to see it was her sword. "How did you know where to find this?" She asks looking back up at him. Vilkas swallows hard as he tries to think. The truth was, he knew she dropped it along with her armor and so he thought the least he could do was to go and retrieve it for her. But he couldn't tell her the truth, he needed to come up with something else to tell her. "Skjor had me go get it this morning, along with your armor." He tells her.

Hope lifts an eyebrow up at him and then looks back down at the sword. "To be honest, I actually forgot about it till now." She says with a smile as she slides her sword back into its sheath. A small sigh of relief escapes Vilkas. "I went ahead and took your armor up to Eorlund, it got banged up pretty bad and needed to be fixed up." He tells her with a small smile. Hope looks back up at him with a growing smile.

Vilkas raises an eyebrow up at her in question, she's never smiled at him like that before. "Look at you, first it was advice, then it was checking on my wounds and now its retrieving my things. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were getting a crush on me." She teases with a smile and faint blush. Vilkas scoffs furrowing his eyebrows. "Please." He turns away from her and starts to walk away. "You're not my type." He mumbles as he disappears around a corner. "Liar." Hope whispers as she places her sword on the table next to her and then walks back to the bag of arrows on the ground.

Hope's back in her place that she was in before Vilkas interrupted her. She grabs an arrow out of the bag, she readies it on the string of the bow and then raises the bow in the air. She focuses in on the target, takes in a deep breath, and lets the arrow go. _**THUD!**_ The arrow hits the target and lands on the higher part of it. A smile forms on Hope's face as she lowers the bow to look at it. The arrow just barely hit the target's edge but it was still good, considering she just started practicing the bow a couple days ago.

She readies another arrow while lifting the bow back up. She does exactly what she did with the first one and prepares herself to let go of the arrow. "Seriously!" A loud voice makes her jump and let go of the arrow, since she lost focus, it barely made three feet away from her before plummeting into the ground. She lowers the bow and quickly looks to where the voice came from and saw Skjor standing there, with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Hope quickly looks away from him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Did Aela's words go through your ears whelp?" He asks with an irritable voice as he approaches her. Hope just stands there keeping her face away from him with her eyebrows still furrowed. "Well?" He scowls at her silence. She finally looks back at him but keeps her eyebrows furrowed. "All I'm doing is practicing my aim, it's not like I'm moving around much and I plan on taking breaks." She explains. Skjor stares at her with his scowl for a moment. Then, his mean expression slowly fades as a sigh escapes from him. "Alright fine." He gives in. Hope lifts her eyebrows up at him, surprised at how quick it was for him to give in like that. "Just make sure not to over do it." He tells her and then turns from her to walk away. She watches him for a moment and then turns back around to continue. _'Alright, let's see if I can get closer to the middle...'_


	11. Chapter 11

The next few days was nothing but easy going, all Hope could do was practice her aim and little by little, she was getting better. She would have a few hits and a few misses, but it was better than when she first started. After those easy days and after Hope healed up enough, Aela decided that it was time to get back into the serious training. Which meant having Hope dance around on her feet again while also making her body move in weird ways to dodge Aela's sword. "Who knew a few days of rest would make you clumsy again!" Is what Aela would say everytime she took Hope down to the ground.

After a couple days of doing that, Aela finally allowed Hope to have her sword drawn so she could teach her to block properly with it in case she ever came into close combat in a fight. Once again, Aela had Hope moving in all sorts of ways, but this time Hope was able to move offensively with her own swings from her sword. Of course, non of her swings or slashes ever made it to Aela, she was too fast and it seemed like every time she blocked Hope's sword she would quickly kick out a foot to trip her and bring her to the ground. "If this were a real battle you'd of died the moment you drew your sword!" Aela always yelled every time she took Hope down.

It's now the second day with that kind of training but this time, Aela had Skjor join them. "Why is he here?" Hope asks as she stands there and stares at Skjor with an eyebrow raised. "He's going to be helping us today." Aela answers while unsheathing her sword. Hope then looks at Aela with her lifted eyebrow in question but also suspicion. Just how was Skjor going to help?

That was soon answered when Skjor rushed Hope from behind. He shoved his arms beneath hers, grabbing her wrists in the process and then pulling them up to the back of her neck so she couldn't move. "Ah!" She exclaims painfully as she tries to struggle against him but the more she moved the tighter his grip became. "How many times do I need to tell you whelp? Expect-" "The unexpected! Yeah I know!" Hope yells at her loudly, cutting her off. "Ninety-five percent of the time, you will come across more than one foe and you will find yourself in several situations like this." Aela begins to explain as she approaches Hope with her sword drawn.

"There's no secret-knowledge to getting out of situations like this, most of the time it's adrenaline and quick thinking." Aela said as she pointed the tip of her sword at Hope's throat. "So whelp, what will you do now? In reality you would be dead by now, but I can tell you this, when an enemy has a hold of you like this." She moves her sword to the side to point at Skjor over Hope's shoulder. "You have about five seconds to get out before you find a blade in your stomach." Something dark appeared in Aela's eyes when she said that and for some reason, that reminded Hope of the night she was attacked by that beast. She remembers looking into that monster's eyes and she can see, for just a moment, that Aela's eyes were similar and that made her once injured leg start to ache.

A dark chuckle escapes Skjor making Hope's eyes widen. She can feel her heart beat quicken as a quick flash of that night comes to her mind. But it was just more than the memory, it was the feeling. The feeling of being helpless and trapped, the feeling that one gets when close to death, and the feeling of fear taking control of her body, paralyzing her. No, she never wants to feel that way again, she never wants to be that helpless again.

Something awakens in Hope and she's not sure what. Maybe it was being stuck or perhaps it was the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She doesn't know, but what she does know is she needs to act fast, she needs to act like her life in on the line.

 _ **Crack!**_ The ugly sound of bones breaking comes from Skjor's face, comes from his nose to be exact. His nose is broken instantly as Hope just slammed the back of her head into his face. She hit him with her head so hard in fact, that it made her see stars, but she quickly shook it off because she had to shake it off. No one's going to give her a moment to recover, especially Aela. Skjor stumbles back with both hands covering his face as Aela is thrown off for a moment with her eyes wide in shock.

Hope takes advantage of the moment and draws out her sword. Aela snaps out of it when she hears the sword unsheathe. She blocks Hope's swing just in time but since it was last minute it did make her stumble a little. Hope takes advantage again and swings her sword hard from the side making Aela act fast. For once, it was Hope making Aela dance.

Aela tries to take back the offense, but she can't and that begins to irritate her. Hope gets ready to swing her sword again but footsteps rushing at her from behind catches her attention. She doesn't need to look back to know it was Skjor, they may just be training but Skjor wanted some pay back for the broken nose.

Skjor has taken off his shield from his back and was now rushing at Hope with it drawn in front of him. He was going to knock her forward, he was going to knock her off her feet and make her hit the ground hard. Skjor locks his eyes on the back of her head as he charges towards her fast. He wasn't going to let her catch him off guard again! Then suddenly, she's not there anymore. It's just Aela standing in Skjor's path and she looks just as surprised as he does.

Hope timed it, that's how she did it. She counted his steps and listened to them closely. It's true she had her focus on Aela, but she had her ears on Skjor. _'You must focus on one enemy at a time.'_ Is what Aela had told her when they first started training together. And she was, she was focusing on the enemy before her, but she didn't forget about the one behind her. So she watched her footing and kept herself from getting overwhelmed with panic from the thought of Skjor ramming her down.

Then the moment she felt like he was close, too close to stop. She pushed Aela hard, throwing her off with the sudden change of movement and then ducked. She ducked fast and low to throw Skjor off and then jumped out of the way. Skjor's eyes widened as he dug his heels into the ground to try and stop, but he couldn't. All it did was make him trip and fall right into Aela. He crashed into her hard and the loud clattering of his shield hitting the ground echoed through out the training yard.

Hope sat there and watched Aela push Skjor off with wide eyes. Skjor and Aela both sit up and look over at Hope with furrowed eyebrows and disbelief in their eyes. Hope also couldn't believe it, she couldn't believed that worked. She figured Aela would catch on to what she was doing before she could do anything, but she didn't. The three of them just sat on the ground in silence, staring at each other. Hope's eyes move to Skjor's bloody, broken nose. The sight of it makes Hope cringe, she then moves her eyes over to Aela and can see a knot forming on her forehead. Her and Skjor must of but-heads when they crashed into each other.

She wasn't sure if she was in trouble or not, Skjor had an annoyed expression on his face while Aela was just staring at her with her eyebrows furrowed. "Expect the unexpected?" Is all Hope can think to say in that moment. Aela and Skjor's eyes both widen while quickly looking at each other. _'Or not.'_ Hope nervously clears her throat as she watches them. Aela gets up off the ground and turns to Hope with a smile. "Not bad." Aela said with her hands on her hips.

Hope's eyes widened as she watched Aela start to walk over to her. She was relieved that she wasn't in trouble but she was also surprised. "It's about time you started taking this seriously." She said as she stopped in front of Hope and offered a hand. Hope grabbed her hand and the moment she did Aela pulled her up to her feet with ease. "The way you were fighting just now, you were fighting like your life was on the line and that's how you should've been acting all this time." Aela explains.

"I had Skjor join us today because I felt like you weren't taking our training seriously. I mean, sure you've been working hard and even working on your skills with the bow, but you weren't really taking all of it seriously and I felt the reason for that is because in your mind you're telling yourself it's just training, it's not real when this whole time, you've been needing to act like it's real. So, Skjor and I thought if you were in a helpless situation your body would react before your mind and you would spring into action. And it seems we were right." Aela explained with a smile as she looked back at Skjor.

Hope's eyes also went to Skjor who was picking up his shield off the ground. "I didn't expect it to work though." Skjor tells them as he straps his shield around his back. "I expected something to happen but I didn't expect you to head-butt him like that." Aela said while turning back to Hope. "It was all I could really do to get out of that hold." Hope tells her as she starts to rub her wrists where Skjor grabbed her. "Oh please." Skjor speaks up as he walks over to them. "I gave you plenty of space and opportunities to get out of that hold!" He tells her while crossing his arms over his chest.

Hope quickly furrows her eyebrows down at him. "No you didn't, you held my hands behind my head and made me completely helpless." Hope complained. Skjor furrows his eyebrows down at her with his usual frown forming on his face. "Oh don't mind him." Aela cuts in as she pats Skjor's shoulder. "He's just mad because you broke his nose." She points out with a small chuckle. "Hmph." Skjor irritably exclaimed.

"I must say." Someone else cuts in this time making all three of them turn and look. It was Kodlak, he had been sitting outside watching them train without them knowing. It'd been a little over two weeks since Hope joined and Kodlak liked to check on her progress. "I'm impressed, girl." Kodlak tells Hope with a smile. "Since you've arrived, I've taken notice to the progress you have been making. Even with you're injuries you still trained as much as you were able and after seeing you take on Skjor and Aela today, I'm confident that you truly do have what it takes to be one of us." He places a friendly hand on Hope's shoulder while keeping his smile on his face.

Hearing Kodlak say that to her made her cheeks flush and warm butterflies spread through out her body. Since the day she's joined, she's been made fun of and mocked for her lack of skills, so hearing those words come from Kodlak, the Harbinger of the Companions, made her blush with delight and feel accomplished. But now knowing Kodlak's thoughts on her progress, she needs to know something. "So..." She trails off to slightly look down at the ground. Kodlak raises his eyebrows at her, waiting. "Does that mean I'm ready to take on jobs now?" She relunctly asks moving her eyes back up to Kodlak.

Aela and Skjor both burst into laughter from how innocent that question sounded coming from her. She quickly looks up and at them with her eyebrows furrowed. Kodlak can't help but chuckle along with them. "No, girl." He said while removing his hand from her shoulder. She looks back at Kodlak slightly disappointed. "You may have gotten better with your skills but that doesn't make you ready for the field." He explains. "You haven't even fully become a Companion yet." Skjor cuts in making Hope look at him. She furrows her eyebrows at him, confused.

"What do you mean, I-I thought..." She trails off thinking back to when Kodlak first accepted her. "What I mean is, you've only been accepted to train and prove your worth. Other than that, till we the circle decide you are ready, you are not fully a Companion yet." Skjor explains. A frown forms on Hope's face as her heart sinks in her chest. _'I should've known there would be more to it.'_ She thinks to herself with grimace on her face. "But of course to truly prove your worth you do need to do some work and actual fighting." Aela speaks up now making Hope look at her.

"For a while, we'll send you on small jobs and see how you handle it. Then we'll send you on a couple of difficult ones so that you can prove to us that you're ready." Aela explained with a small smile on her face. "And you guys don't think I'm ready for the small jobs?" She asks lifting an eyebrow. "We don't think. We know." Skjor answers with his grumpy frown. "But I understand everything better now and I can also hit the target now with the bow." Hope said while pointing to the target. "Of course you can, but only because it's in one place." Aela replies.

Hope looks at her with her eyebrows knit-together. "You are getting better with your aim, but shooting at a target is completely different than shooting at an enemy. You have no practice with moving targets what-so-ever. In fact, we'll probably be starting that kind of training soon." Aela's last sentence was more to herself than to Hope as she looked over at the target that Hope always used in training. _'Taking on small jobs should be part of my training though...'_ She wants to say, but decides to keep it to herself. She feels like she's argued enough and more would only anger them.

"Don't worry, girl." Kodlak finally speaks up again. Hope looks at him. "You'll get your chance to show us what you're made of soon enough. Don't try and rush it because if you do, nothing good will come out of it." Kodlak said with a small nod and a smile. Hope sighs and gives him an understood nod while looking down at the ground. "You've done good today." Aela takes a step towards her. "The rest of the day is yours, I think tomorrow we will start your training on moving targets." Aela told her with a quick pat on the back.

"Come on Skjor, let's go clean up your face." Aela said with a chuckle while walking away. Skjor only mumbles and grumbles to himself as he follows her. Hope watches them walk away and then feels a gentle pat to her other shoulder. She looks and sees Kodlak give her one last smile and then turn to walk back to Jorrvaskr. Hope stands there and watches him walk away, thinking to herself.

She starts to wonder how exactly Aela would train her with moving targets. She knows she won't take her outside of Whiterun for it. ' _She'll probably have me shooting her with her shield up while she runs around me._ ' The image of Aela holding up a shield comes to her mind and that makes her groan with a contempt expression on her face. That was a good idea for training her, but it still didn't really progress her in that area.

Hope crosses her arms over her breasts as she looks down at the ground keeping the contempt look on her face. She did need a moving target to shoot at, but it needed to be a moving target coming at her. She needed to actually have her life on the line in order to really learn. She's realized that today, sure Aela and Skjor wouldn't really have hurt her, but they put on a convincing act that made Hope jump into action.

Suddenly she thinks back to the night she was attacked. She thinks back on how instead of running away from the beast, she ran directly at it and cut it right down the middle of its body. It didn't kill it or slow it down but it was something she never thought she was capable of. It was something she never would of thought to do during training, it was only because her life was on the line that made her jump into action and that was exactly what she needed. She needed her life to be on the line to truly react and learn.

An idea comes to her mind like fire taking to a candle. Anoriath's face appears in her head as does his offer. The Companions may not take her out for some real action but she knows he will, and she knows that he will have her back in case things go wrong. Anoriath was also an archer and a hunter. He could show her his way of using the bow and give her some different advice than Aela. The more she thought about the idea the more she liked it. _'Would I get in trouble though?'_ She suddenly thinks to herself with a worried frown forming on her face.

She then remembers what Eorlund had told her the first day she met him. _"Don't always do what you're told. Nobody rules over anybody in the Companions."_ His advice rings her head and remembering it makes her more sure than before. _'They can only advice me, they can't really tell me what to do and besides, Aela said the rest of the day was mine. What I do on my free time is non of their business.'_ With that decided Hope, uncrosses her arms, looks up, and walks off to head for the marketplace. She needs to find Anoriath.

Vilkas has been sitting outside all afternoon. He started the job that was assianged to him early in the morning and finished it early afternoon. When he arrived back at Jorrvaskr is when he saw Skjor, Aela, and Hope standing outside. He heard Aela explain to Hope that Skjor was going to help with their training today and there was no way he was going to miss it. So he took a seat and enjoyed the show.

He winced when he saw Skjor grab Hope and trap in her a tight hold and he saw the panic appear in her eyes. At first it was funny but then he sensed something inside of them stir. He sensed the beast's inside of them become restless. Just like his did a couple weeks ago. Vilkas had sat forward and watched with worry filled eyes. Aela acted like she had it under control but her eyes told him differently, they became dark. He then quickly looked to Skjor and saw a slight twitch in his face indicating he was having a difficult time keeping it under control. Just what was going on?

That's when Kodlak came outside, he came outside to secretly check on Hope like he did everyday but then he sensed it too. He stood beside Vilkas and watched, fearful of what was going to happen. Him and Vilkas both were tense and ready to jump into action at any moment. But then, something happened. Something that took them both by surprise. Hope had slammed the back of her head into Skjor's face, making him let go of her and stagger back.

Vilkas watched Hope charge at Aela with wide eyes. It seemed that the surprise from her actions snapped Aela out of it and made her have control again as well as Skjor. Skjor did charge at Hope with his giant shield but he didn't do it because the beast inside him commanded him to, he did it because he was annoyed that she broke his nose. A sigh of relief came from Vilkas as he had leaned back in his chair. He heard a small chuckle come from Kodlak that made him look up at him.

He watched Hope with a smile on his face and impressed eyes. Vilkas admitted that he too was impressed with Hope's actions. It was unlike her to spring into action like that and watching her taking over the fight made him feel a little excited. When he saw Skjor crash into Aela a small chuckle escaped from him and he had to place his hand over his mouth to hide it. Skjor and Aela always took pride in themselves when it came to fighting, so to see them thrown off like that was a sight to see and a sight that Vilkas would never forget.

He looked over to Hope thinking she would be standing with pride on her face, but instead he saw her sitting on the ground looking just at surprised as they were. He then realized that she didn't believe that would of worked and it shocked her that it did. Vilkas chuckles again as he watches her with a smile on his face. He was glad to see Aela smiling at Hope, obviously proud of her actions. He could also see a quick flash of relief appear in her eyes but when she approached Hope, she shook it off.

He then watched Kodlak walk over to the three standing in the training field and listened in on what was being said. He could see Hope's disappointment and aggravation, he could also understand it. He remembers training and he remembers wanting to jump right in like she does, but he agrees with the others that it's not a good idea. He wouldn't of back then when he was a child, but he does now.

When Aela and Skjor walk by him, he slightly looks up at them and they look right back. Skjor gives Vilkas a quick nod and Vilkas nods back. They didn't need words to speak and the nod that Skjor gave Vilkas was reassuring him that everything was fine.

Kodlak had just now left the training field and went back inside Jorrvaskr. Now only Vilkas and Hope remained outside and he's not sure if she even knows he's there. He thought about heading in for something to eat but he didn't. He stayed and continued to watch Hope. He watched her cross her arms and look down at the ground with furrowed eyebrows. He watched doubt, excitement, then doubt again appear in her eyes. Then, he sees something else appear but not only on her eyes, he can see it all over her face.

She's been standing there thinking about something and now, she's decided on that something. He quickly stands when he sees her take off. He walks out into the training yard and watches her disappear around the corner. Whatever it was that she just decided, what it was that just came to her mind, wasn't good. He had an uneasy feeling about it and he couldn't help but feel worried. _'Just what are you planning?'_ Whatever it was, wasn't going to end well. He could feel it in his gut.

Hope quickly walks down the set of stairs that led to the marketplace. Since it was getting late in the day, it wasn't as full as usual and Anoriath was just standing there wrapping some of his meats up. She smiles as she quickly approaches his stand.

Anoriath hears approaching footsteps and looks up expecting it to be a customer but when he sees it's Hope, an excited smile forms on his face. "Li-I mean Hope! It's good to see you!" He almost forgot that she goes by something else now and almost calls her by her real name. Hope cringes a little when she hears the beginning of her true name but then smiles when he quickly fixes himself. "It's good to see you to Anoriath, it's been a while." She said as she stands in front of his stand.

"That it has my friend!" He puts the newly wrapped meat down on the stand and then leans forward on it. "What's brought you here today? Come by for just a chat?" He asks keeping his smile. Hope's smile slowly fades as her nervs start to take over. She doesn't know why she feels so nervous about it, perhaps it was because last time Anoriath got the wrong idea and she was afriad he'd get the wrong idea again. _'I just need to be clear about it.'_ She thinks to herself with a small sigh.

"I was wondering if I could take you up on your offer?" She asks. "Which one?" Anoriath asks with a lifted eyebrow. "The one where you could take me out hunting?" She asks again with her eyebrows knit-together. Anoriath keeps his eyebrow lifted as a crooked smile appears on his face. It was like the one he gave her last time. Her cheeks flare up as she quickly looks down. "I need help training with the bow!" She explains quickly. "I've decided to try and be an archer and I need to train on moving targets like elk or maybe some wolves." She explains more.

"Oh." Anoriath sounds a little disappointed but he quickly perks back up for her. "Sure I can help you with that." He says with a friendly smile. Hope looks back up at him. "When are you wanting to go?" He asks while crossing his arms over his chest. "How about tonight?" She asks with her eyebrows slightly raised. "Tonight's good, I actually need to stock our stores back up." Anoriath said with another friendly smile. Hope returns the smile. "Thank you Anoriath." She said. "It's no problem." He said with a shrug and same smile. "Meet me at The Drunken Huntsmen at dusk and we'll head out." He tells her.

Hope raises her eyebrows up at him. "You mean after dark?" She asks. "That's when most game come out, especially wolves." Anoriath explains. "Oh." Hope nods showing she understands. "So dusk, okay?" Anoriath says with a smile. "Got it." Hope nods again while returning the smile. "I'll see you then." She gives him a quick wave and then walks away from his stand. She starts to feel excited about tonights hunt with Anoriath but she also feels a little nervous. She wasn't sure if it was really a good idea but she needed to do this. She needed to learn and the others weren't going to help her with it any time soon, so she had to do it herself.

Hope spent the rest of the day practicing her aim, she took a few steps farther to see if she could still hit the target and most of her arrows did. She could tell it was dinner time because she could smell the fresh sweat rolls Tilma just now brought out. She would usually leave a couple platters of food outside for those who enjoyed eating their meals in the fresh air.

She turned her head and watched Tilma set down a few more platters. She was thinking about whether she was going to eat dinner or not. She had a fairly good sized lunch, so it wouldn't hurt anything if she skipped this meal. "I just don't think I like how this job ended." She hears Ria's voice behind her as well as a couple of approaching footsteps. "It ended the way it ended, there's nothing you can do about it now." Now she hears Njada's voice. She turns to them and watches them approach.

They were both dirty with scrapes here and there on their bodies but Njada was covered in blood. _'I didn't expect them to get back today.'_ Hope thinks to herself as she continues to watch them. Ria looks up feeling eyes on her and smiles when she sees it's just Hope. "Hey!" Ria quickly runs up to her friend. "How did your job go?" She asks looking from Ria to Njada. Ria frowns as she thinks about it. "Not like we planned." Njada answers with an annoyed sigh. Njada walks up to Hope and then stops right in front of her with her arms crossed. "Oh?" Hope asks with a lifted eyebrow.

"The heirloom got destroyed..." Ria mumbles with her head bowed. "Which means we don't get paid." Njada said while irritably looking away. "What happened?" Hope asks with her eyebrows knit-together. Ria looks back up and at Njada who was also looking at her. "It's your fault, you tell her." Njada said while looking away. Ria sighs as she rubs the back of her neck. "Bandits stole some farmers heirloom and we were hired to retrieve it." She started to tell her the story.

 **-Mini side story staring Ria and Njada-**

"You sure this is the place?" Njada asked as her and Ria were standing outside a ruined fort. "Yep, this is the place the farmer was talking about." Ria answered while staring down at their map. "Alright then, let's get this over with." Njada sighs as she starts to approach the fort. Ria quickly puts away the map and then follows after Njada. "So what exactly are we supposed to be getting here?" Njada asks with her usual irritated voice.

"A family heirloom." Ria answers with her usual smile. "Heirloom?" Njada questions with her eyebrows furrowed. "That's right." Ria nods. "I believe it's some kind of plate." She tells Njada with her index finger pointing in the air. "Huh?!" Njada stops walking and turns to Ria with her eyebrows furrowed.

Ria stops along side her and looks back at her with an eyebrow raised. "A plate? Seriously?" Njada kept her eyebrows furrowed at Ria. She just shrugs. "Apparently, it's a very special plate." She said with a small smile. Njada responds with a sigh and then continues to walk towards the ruined building. "I don't get paid enough for this crap." Ria hears Njada mumble as they approach the fort.

Before going inside, Njada and Ria scope out the place carefully. To their surprise, there was no one guarding outside. "That's strange." Njada speaks quietly as she regroups with Ria at the door. "Why?" Ria naively asks. "Bandits normally have a couple looks outs either by the door or on the roof." Njada tells her while looking up at the crumbling building. "So it's odd to find no one out here." She said now looking around them again. "Oh." Ria responds with her index finger placed on her chin.

Njada looks back at her with her eyebrow raised. "You haven't fought bandits much have you?" She asks. Ria shakes her head with an embarrassed blush appearing on her cheeks. Njada lets out an irritated sigh as she pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "Okay..." She says more towards herself than to Ria. "Let's just get in there and get this over with." Njada mumbles while removing her hand from her face to push the door open.

They both enter the fort together and look around cautiously. They both have to stand there for a moment to let their eyes get used to the darkness of the building. Their only light source came from thin, rectangular holes in the stone walls that most likely used to have bricks in them. There were a few cracks in the ceiling here and there, but no light came from them, because above them was just another floor.

"This way." Njada said in a hushed whisper as she began to walk. Ria follows close behind her while looking around carefully. "How do you know where to go?" Ria asks quietly. "Most of the rooms in this fort seem to be collapsed, at least on this floor. So I'm just guessing they're hold up on the second floor." Njada explains. "What if there's a third floor?" Ria asks with a lifted eyebrow. "There's not." Njada replies with a sigh. "How do you know that?" Ria asks again. "Because I looked the fort up and down when we were outside and I could tell by the height, that there wasn't more than two floors. Now shut up." Njada snaps. Ria quietly scoffs and furrows her eyebrows down. _'Rude.'_

They both make their way through the first floor and reach a large stair case leading up to the second floor. Ria was about to take a step but Njada places her hand on her shoulder, quickly stopping her. "What is it?" Ria asks in a hushed whisper. "Listen." Njada whispered while pointing upwards. Ria looks up and listens closely. They can hear shuffling around and a sound coming from small rocks being kicked.

"Someone's up there." Ria points out. "I think there's only one though." Njada said while keeping her eyes up. "Come on, we can take em out." Njada said while quickly going up the stairs. "No, wait." Ria calls after her but she doesn't stop. Ria tries to catch up as quick as she can but before she knows it, Njada is gone. _'Oh great.'_ She can only think to herself as she starts to hurry more up the stairs.

When she reaches the top she comes into a large circular room that had no other rooms attached to it, and standing in the middle of the room was Njada who was surrounded by at least seven bandits. She had her shield and mace up but she knew she didn't stand a chance alone. _'I guess now is a good time to test my aim with my great sword...'_ Ria unsheaths her great sword and quickly runs to Njada's side. "I think you pulled a me." Ria said with a small smile. "Shut up." Njada snapped.

"What are these two doing here!?" One of the bandits yelled. "Who are they!?" Another yelled. Ria lifted an eyebrow as she scanned them over. They were all holding up banged up weapons and their armor looked cheap and torn. She saw their knees shaking and sweat beading up on their foreheads. _'Are they new at this or something?'_ She wonders. "Just kill them already!" Another yells and charges towards them. The others soon followed after the first bandit that charged.

They may seem naive and weak, but they still outnumbered Ria and Njada, so they had to keep their guard up and fight. Ria swung her sword slicing a couple open at the same time. "Aha! Nice! Did you see that!?" Ria shouted excitedly while looking over at Njada, who was fighting three at once. "Now's not the time for that!" Njada yells as she slams her shield hard into one of them.

Ria runs over and stabs her great sword right into the back of one of the bandits making blood splatter all over Njada. She winces from the blood but ignores it to quickly hit the other bandit on the side of the head with her mace. They hear his skull crack from the hard impact and then watched him hit the ground.

Ria counts the bodies on the ground and realizes that there should still be two more bandits left. Njada realizes that also, so at the same time they both quickly look around the large room. "Hurry up will you!" They hear a panicked voice from the far side of the room. They both turn and the moment they see the two remaining bandits their eyes widen.

On the far side of the room along with the two remaing bandits was a large cage, with a large cave bear inside. "Hey a bear!" Ria shouts without thinking. "How in a Oblivion did we miss that?" Njada wonders outloud while staring at the angry bear. It looked hungry and eager. "There I got it!" The bandit working on the lock shouts. The lock opens and the moment it does,the bear comes running out. It heads right for Njada and Ria, completely ignoring the two bandits behind it.

"Now's our chance!" One of the bandits yells. The two bandits wasted no time and made a run for it while the bear was distracted by Njada and Ria. Their eyes widen as they both quickly jump out of its path. The bear stops and turns for Njada. _'Of course it's me!'_ She scowls while holding up her shield to meet the bears claws. Njada is forced down on one knee with her shield help up high above her head. The bear slammed on her shield with both paws at once almost making her collapse on the ground. "Ria!" She yells over the bears roars.

Ria runs straight at the bear with her great sword pointing out in front of her. The bear stands on its hind legs to attack Njada again, but before it can even attempt it, Ria runs her sword right through the bear's back. Njada slowly lowers her shield down and watches the bear fall to the side when Ria removes her sword. Ria pants as she stares down at the bear and watches it take it's last breath.

Njada slowly got up and looked down at the bear to make sure it really was dead. "Well that was exciting." Ria's voice makes Njada look up and she scowls when she sees a smile on Ria's face. "How can you be smiling? Two bandits got away." Njada pointed out with her eyebrows furrowing. Ria blinked and stared at her for a moment. She then looked down at the bear and looked right back up giving off a shrug. "Killed a bear though." She said with a smile.

"Ugh." Njada irritably exclaimed while turning away from Ria. "Come on, let's just find the stupid heirloom and get out of here." Ria nods in response as she starts to look around. The large room they were in was filled with a lot of junk. Njada and Ria came across a lot of things that looked valuable but when looked at close, it was obviously all fake. "These guys didn't have a clue on what they were doing, did they?" Njada wonders outloud while she holds up a necklace that had fake jewels in it.

"By the way they were fighting I'd say, no." Ria responded as she dug through a huge pile of junk. "Aha!" She exclaims loudly. Njada looks back at Ria who was holding up a large, glass platter that had beautiful carvings in it. It was completely see through and didn't have a scratch on it. "I found it!" Ria runs over to Njada excitedly. "No, Ria! Don't run with-" Before she can finish that sentence Ria trips over a rolled up rug and hits the ground hard.

 _ **SMASH!**_ The loud sound coming from the heirloom makes Njada gasp and hold her breath. Ria slowly looks up and her eyes widen when she sees the heirloom before her has broken into many pieces. Ria and Njada both stay completely still while staring down at the broken heirloom with their eyes wide and their mouths gaped open.

 **End**

"So, after all of that. You broke the heirloom by simply tripping?" Hope asks with a smirk. Ria nods with her head bowed in shame. An aggravated groan comes from Njada as she continues to look away from Ria. "I'm never working another job with you again..." She mumbles. Hope covers her mouth to try and hide her snickers but they were heard and they were not appreciated. "It's not funny!" Njada yells making her quickly stand up straight with her hands behind her back, but she kept her smile on her face. "We went through all of that crap and we don't even get paid!" Njada storms off as she rants loudly.

Ria sighs as she watches her. "I'm sure the next job will go better." Hope tries to reassure Ria. Ria looks at her with a smile, appreciating her effort. "Hope so!" Ria said with a giggle. "Other than all of that. I did get to kill a bear by myself so there's that to be proud of!" Ria said with her chest puffed out. Hope smiled and chuckled a bit. Ria thought it was from what she just said, but really it was from the thought of her tripping.

Ria sniffs the air noticing a familiar delicious scent. "Oh! Just in time for dinner." Ria hurries off towards Jorrvaskr. "You coming?" She asks Hope but doesn't stop. "No, I've got somewhere to be." Hope replied while removing the bag of arrows from her back. Ria's curiosity got the better of her and made her stop. "Oh really?" She asked while looking at Hope over her shoulder with an eyebrow lifted.

Hope just nods. "Just where are you going?" She asks with a curious grin. Hope quickly looks up at her and tries to think of something to tell her. She can't tell her what she's really doing or where she's going, so she needs to lie. "I have a date!" She said quickly. It was the first thing that came to her mind. "A date? Really?" Ria asks quite surprised as she fully turns towards Hope. "Oh don't say it like that! I've known people from Whiterun way before I joined the Companions!" She tells her. "I need to be going now though, so bye!" Without wanting to get into it, Hope quickly turns and leaves. Ria watches her with a lifted eyebrow and then just shrugs while heading back to Jorrvaskr for some food.


	12. Chapter 12

Everyone was gathered in the main hall of Jorrvaskr for dinner, even Kodlak. Tilma had bought new supplies for Jorrvaskr and the first meal made with the new supplies was usually the best. Mugs constantly being refilled with mead as everybody filled their stomach's with food. Vilkas never admitted it, but he did enjoy these nights because nights like this, everyone seemed to put their differences behind and sit together to enjoy a good meal.

Ria had her plate full and she wasn't planning on stopping. She enjoyed food, especially food made with fresh ingredients. Nothing could top that. "Sorry your job didn't go well today." Athis said while taking a swig of his mead. "It's alright." Ria quickly responds so she can get back to eating her food. "It is not fine!" Njada yells making her and Athis look at her.

Njada sat a few chairs away from Ria, she had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Oh calm down!" Torvrar yells and slaps her back hard. Njada slightly falls forward on the table, but quickly straightens back up to glare at Torvrar. "So what you had a bad day! We've all had em!" He shouted. It was obvious he was drunk. Njada sneers at him and then quickly looks down at the table. "Maybe you should slow down on the mead, Torvrar." Athis said, pointing his fork at him.

"Maybe you should slow down with your face!" Torvrar yells while quickly standing out of his seat with his hands pressed down on the table. Athis lifts an eyebrow at him. "Because you know..." He starts to think while staring at Athis's face. "You're an elf and you...have a...long face." Torvar slowly makes a motion downwards from his face as he continues to stare at Athis. "Oh I get it!" Ria laughed out with a mouth full of food.

Even Njada chuckled. Torvrar only sighs as he pours himself some more mead. "I'm drunk enough for this crap..." He mumbles and then takes a big drink. "Morons..." Skjor grumbled to himself as he cut into a thick piece of venison. "Speaking of drunk!" Torvrar shouted loudly again. "Where's Hope? I have yet to take her mead virginity and wanted to take her to the Inn later for drinks." Torvrar said loudly while looking around the room. "You really didn't need to say it like that." Athis sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

"Well how else could I say it!?" Torvrar shouts at Athis. "You could of said it any other way but that way!" Athis finally shouts back while looking up at him. "She's not here." Ria cuts in between them to stop the growing argument. "Not here?" Torvrar's eyebrows furrowed down at Ria. Ria nods. "Where is she then?" He asks. Ria can't help but let out a small giggle. "Spill it girl!" Torvrar shouts and points his mug at her.

Ria leans forward on the table with a hand cupped around the side of her mouth, as if she was telling a secret even though she knew everyone would hear. "She's on a date." She giggles again. "A date!?" Torvrar exclaimed shockingly. "Who in a Oblivion would want to be with a girl like her?" Njada scowls. "Everybody. Everybody would rather be with a girl like her than a girl like you, if you even are one." Athis said with half a smirk.

Njada quickly jumped from her seat and slammed her hands down on the table. "You wanna go grey-skin?!" She yelled. "Oh, I guess I'm in the mood to kick your ass." Athis now stands from his seat with his hands pressed on the table. "You guys are getting off track!" Torvrar yelled making them both look at him. "Did you just forget that Ria told us that Hope is on a date!? A date!" Torvrar grumpily sits back down in his chair with his arms crossed. "If she goes on a date with anyone it should be me!" He claimed while poking his thumb into his own chest.

"I just need to take her mead virginity first." He said a bit quieter this time as he rubbed his beard. "Would you stop saying it like that!" Athis shouted. "I'm getting a head ache..." Skjor sighed as he rubbed his forehead. Kodlak only chuckled. "Such a colorful group we have." He said after taking a bite out of his bread. "That's one word for it." Farkas mumbles and then takes a drink of his mead.

Vilkas sits there with a frown on his face and his eyes on his half-eaten dinner. _'A date? With who?'_ He wonders with his frown growing. _'She's a grown woman. She can go on dates.'_ He tells himself while grabbing at his mug. He grips it tight and brings it to his face with rough movement. Farkas slightly looks at his brother with an eyebrow lifted. _'But who is it? Who could have possibly caught her eye to make her want to spend time with them?'_ He groans while taking a long drink of his mead.

"Something wrong?" Farkas asks. "I don't care." He mumbles out loud in his mug. "Huh?" Farkas furrows his eyebrows. Vilkas snaps out of it when he realizes that he had just said his thoughts out loud. He slowly lowers his mug from his face with a growing frown. "I don't care for this mead." Vilkas said clearing his throat and putting his mug back down. "If you don't like it then don't drink it." Farkas unwittingly advised. "Yea, thanks Farkas." Vilkas said sarcastically.

"What crawled in your undergarments and died?" Aela asked as she overheard their short conversation. "Nothing." Vilkas mumbled. "Oh wait. I know." Aela purred while leaning on the table with her elbow rested on the edge and her chin resting in her palm. Vilkas shifted his eyes to her with an eyebrow raised. "You're jealous." She said with a pointed finger. Vilkas scoffs and grabs at his mug roughly again. "Yep, that's what it is." Aela nods as she is now sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed.

Vilkas angrily drinks his mead while trying to ignore Aela, but she wouldn't stop. "Who would he be jealous of?" Farkas asks with an eyebrow raised. Aela sighs and then turns to Farkas to explain. "Vilkas is jealous of whoever is spending tonight with Hope." She said plainly. "Oh." Farkas smirked. "Yea, I think so to." He nods with his arms crossed. Vilkas growls in his mug as he continues to gulp down his mead. Now he's trying to ignore the both of them, but they still don't stop.

"I bet he secretly wishes it was him spending the night with Hope." Skjor cuts in, joining in on the teasing. Now it's just getting out of hand. Vilkas finishes his mead and then slams his mug down on the table aggressively. "I'm not jealous!" He yells making everyone in the room look at him. He quickly turns to the other Companions and growls, making them all look back down at their plates. He then stands up from his chair and turns to look at the three that were teasing him.

They didn't have the look of fear on their faces like the others did when he turned to them. Instead, smirks crossed their faces as they were amused by his reaction. Vilkas sneered at them. "I could care less of what the whelp does. If she wants to see someone, then she can see someone. I don't care and I don't care about her." With that said, Vilkas turns on his heel and storms off towards the back doors. "Bunch of children..." He mumbles while throwing open the doors. Kodlak chuckled making the three teasing Companions look at him. "Yep, colorful group."

Vilkas walks outside and is immediately greeted by a cold wind, he'd shiver if it wasn't for the wolf blood inside him. He walks out into the training field and looks up at the dark sky. It was a cloudy night, so it was darker than usual. He took in a deep breath, letting the icy cold air fill his lungs. _'It's going to rain soon.'_ He can smell the moisture in the air and taste it on his tongue as if it had already rained.

A small sigh escapes Vilkas as he starts to make his way over to the weapons rack. He wanted to take a few swings at the training dummies, but his sword was back in his room and he didn't want to go back inside. So, he just had to deal with whatever was outside.

He stops in front of the weapons rack and looks at it. It was full of it's usual weapons, but something seemed off about it. Something was missing. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows as he stares at the empty spot on the weapons rack, trying to figure out what it was. _'The bow and arrows?'_ He realizes as a picture of them in their place comes to his mind. _'But who would take those? Did someone misplace them or steal them?'_ He wondered as he started to look around a bit.

Then suddenly, it comes to him. He freezes in place with his eyes widening. Hope's face appears in his mind as does the expression she had on her face earlier. An expression someone makes when they get an idea. An expression someone makes when they decide on that idea. _'No, Ria said...'_ Vilkas trails off as he starts to really think about it. _'Of course she would lie to Ria. That girl can't keep a secret even if her life depended on it.'_ Vilkas sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose.

He quickly lets go of his nose and grabs a sword off of the weapons rack. He ties the sword to his belt and then quickly takes off. "That stupid girl is going to get herself hurt." He says out loud, not wasting anytime going after her. He knew he had a bad feeling earlier, he just hopes he finds her before anything bad happens to her.

Hope walks down the road leading away from Whiterun and going by the stables. Anoriath walked beside her as he messed with his bow string. "What type of bow is that?" Hope asks as she examines it. "It's just a simple wooden bow, I made it myself." He told her while placing it on his back. "I didn't know you could do stuff like that." She said with a small smile. Anoriath chuckled as he turned his head to look at her. "I can do a lot of things." He said with a crooked grin.

Hope blinked and stared at him for a moment. Her cheeks flare up when she catches on to what he's saying. "Oh." She cleared her throat as she looked away. Anoriath just chuckled while looking back ahead, he enjoyed embarrassing her with his small flirts. _'Is he still getting the wrong idea about this?!'_ She wondered in a panic. Gods she hoped not, she was sure she made it clear what she wanted when she asked him to help her earlier.

Instead of turning down a road after passing the stables, Anoriath just kept walking straight, heading for the wilds. Hope stopped and watched him start to cut across one of the cabbage fields. Anoriath realized she was no longer following him, he stopped and turned around to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "Where are we going?" She asked with her eyebrows knit together in worry. "You didn't expect to hunt on the roads did you?" He said with a sly smirk.

Hope stared at him for a moment longer and then moved her eyes past him. She moved her eyes to the wilds behind him and stared out into the large, dark area. Suddenly, familiar glowing gold eyes flash through her head making her gasp outloud and quickly take a step back. Anoriath rushes over and gently grabs her shoulders with both hands to bring her out of it. "Hey, hey." He spoke to her with a calm and soothing voice.

She looks into his dark eyes and can see worry spilling from them. That's when she realizes her chest rising and falling at a fast pace, along with the sweat forming on her brow and gathering in her palms. Anoriath's eyes widened as he watched her already pale skin go paler. "Maybe we should sit down." He said while already pulling her towards a nearby rock. He slowly sits her down on the large rock and then kneels down in front of her.

Hope inhales deeply and then exhales slowly while wiping the sweat off her forehead. "You okay?" Anoriath asked as he observed her. Hope leaned forward with her hands resting on the edge of the rock, she closes her eyes and bows her head trying to regain herself. She's not sure of what just happened. She just knows an overwhelming sense of fear came over her when she looked out onto the wilds. She feels Anoriaths place a hand on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looks at him with a small smile on her face.

"I'm okay now, Anoriath." She told him with her color going back to normal. Anoriath looked over closely just to be sure. He let out a small relieved sigh as he dropped his hand down from her knee. "What happened?" He asked with hi eyebrows knit together in concern. Hope shifted her eyes away from him to think about it for a moment. She then slightly turns around to look out at the dark area behind her. She now realizes that it was the fear she felt from that beast returning to her. She's afraid of it returning or another one showing. It's been a couple of weeks sense then, but, she still has nightmares about that night.

"Hey." Anoriath's soothing voice catches her attention again and makes her look back at him. "Something bad happened to me a couple of weeks ago..." She starts to tell him with her eyes moving to the ground. Anoriath shifts a bit to where is he sitting on his knees while listening closely.

Hope tells him about the night she was attacked by the giant wolf/man, she tells him how close to death she was and even lifts her pant legs up to show him the injury. Anoriath stared at the large cuts on the back of her leg that were still in the process of healing. He traces his eyes down each one and sees that the ends of them go all the way down to ther ankles. "What in Oblivion?" He murmurs as he continues to stare at her leg. "No wolf can do this right?" She asks hoping to get the answer she's looking for.

Anoriath rests a hand on his chin as he continues to stare at it. "Non that I've seen." He finally responds while standing up straight. Hope's eyes light up when he says that, it was relief to hear him say that. For a while she felt like what Skjor had said to her was true, that it was just a big wolf and that she was crazy. But she wasn't crazy, now she's more sure than before. "The way you describe this creature though." Anoriath moves his hand to the back of his neck and rubs it.

"I can't think of anything that matches that description." He said with a frustrated sigh. He was thinking really hard but not even a troll would leave a wound behind like that. Usually when someone was attacked by a troll, they would be missing limbs. "Well..." Hope speaks quietly. Anoriath looks down at her and sees her looking away with her eyes on the ground.

Her eyebrows were furrowed and had a small pout formed on her face. "I have a theory, but when I told the others they just shut me down and made me feel like I was crazy..." She said keeping her lips formed in a pout. "What's your theory?" Anoriath asks with his arms crossed and a lifted eyebrow. "Mmm..." Hope groans while slouching over a bit. She didn't really want to answer that question.

"Come on, you can tell me." Anoriath said with a chuckle as he sat down next to her on the rock. First she mumbles the answer. "Huh?" Anortiath leans closer with his ear facing her trying to hear what she said. "I think it was a werewolf..." She mumbles again but more clearly so he can here. "Oh...Huh..." Anoriath slowly sits back up straight and just sits there, staring a head with his eyebrows furrowed. "You don't believe me do you?" Hope slightly moves her head and shifts her eyes to him.

"Well, I mean." He clears his throat while scratching the back of his head. "It. It could of been a werewolf? I mean." He clears his throat again. "I've never seen one but that doesn't mean, you." He motions his hand out as it that would make his babbling any better but it doesn't. Hope lets out a sigh as she bows her head into her hands. "Oh just stop already. You don't believe me." She said into her palms. "No, no, I do!" Anoriath says as he places a hand on Hope's back.

"Oh shut up." She snaps making his eyebrows shoot up. "Don't pretend, I know you don't believe me." She said while lifting her hand from her head. "I believe, that you believe it." He spoke hesitantly. Hope slowly turns her head to him with an eyebrow raised. "Seriously?" Now her eyebrows are furrowed and her frown is bigger. Anoriath can only chuckle as he rubs the back of his neck. It's all he can think to do in that uncomfortable moment.

Rushing footsteps is heard by both of them. Anoriath and Hope both quickly look ahead to see who is obviously coming for them. Hope frowns when she sees it's just Vilkas. "There you are!" He said to Hope with a hint of relief in his voice. Vilkas stops in front of her and is about to scorn her till he suddenly realizes Anoriath is sitting beside her.

He looks at him with furrowed eyebrows and examines the scene before him. His eyes go from Anoriaths face to his hand that is resting on Hope's shoulder. He then looks down at the large rock that fits two people perfectly and he can sense how relaxed they are with each other. _'Oh.'_ He frowns while looking back at Hope's face, who did not seem happy on his intrusion. _'Maybe she really is on a date...'_ He feels his stomach twist into knots. His eyes then move to the bow and arrows that are tied to her back. _'Why does she have those though? Did she forget to put them up or something?'_ He furrows his eyebrows again as he becomes confused.

"Vilkas!" Hope's voice makes him snap out of it and makes him look back to her face. She had called his name a couple of times now with no response and she was becoming annoyed. "What are you doing here?" She asks with an unhappy tone. "Uh." Vilkas shifted his eye to Anoriath again, who also did not look pleased with his intrusion. _'Well shit.'_ This was awkard and he had no idea what to do.

"Better yet." Hope stands up from the rock and stands close to Vilkas. "How did you know where to find me?" She asks with her eyebrows remaining furrowed. Vilkas clears his throat as he takes an awkard step back from her. Every time she was close to him he would feel a heat form that drove him crazy, so now he has to keep a good distance between them. "I uh." He stutters, not really sure what to say. All he can think to do is tell her the truth, at least most of it. He can't tell her that he was able to find her because he could smell her, that would just make things worse and make him a creep.

Vilkas lets out a deep sigh and rubs the back of his neck. "I saw that the bow and arrows were missing from the weapons rack and I was worried you were doing something stupid." He starts to explain as he lowers his hand back down to his side. Hope's tightens her jaw as she tries to remain cool. "But I can see that you really are just on a date like Ria said." Vilkas motioned his hand out towards Anoriath who's eyebrows shot up so fast that they just might fly off.

 _'Oh gods.'_ Hope's face flares up as does her body but only from embarrassment and panic. "A date huh?" Anoriaths amused voice makes her shiver. "If I had known that I would of worn something better." He was now on his feet and at Hope's side. He wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close with a smirk on his face. Hope taps her fingers rapidly on the sides of her legs trying to think of a way out of this. She can't tell the truth or she just might get in trouble and she can't let Anoriath keep thinking it was a date or he would get the wrong idea again.

Then again, she would rather face Vilkas's anger than have Anoriath as close as he was just now. She only saw him as a good friend and nothing more, it would be cruel to keep lying and make him think there was something between them. "Oh I see what's going on." Vilkas spoke up making them both look at him. "You like him, but he doesn't know so you told Ria was a date because deep down you wish it was. Right?" Vilkas guessed with a lifted eyebrow.

 _'OH GODS!'_ She can feel her face light up like a fire. "I knew it." Anoriath said with a nod. In reality he was just teasing her but he won't tell her that yet. He was enjoying this moment too much. Vilkas groans unhappily as he watches them be close. "Vilkas." Hope said through gritted teeth. "Hm?" Vilkas looks up at her and instantly feels the daggers she was shooting him with her eyes. They were more like great sword actually.

Her face was so red, he could make it out in the dark and her eyes burned into him like an enormous fire that could burn down Whiterun. He's never seen her so mad. "It's not a date!" She shouts making him and Anoriath both nearly jump out of their skin. "You stupid idiot!" She starts kicking at his shins but he jumps away before she can even get close. "Why did you have to show up like this and make everything horrible!" She moves with him to keep trying to kick his shins.

Anoriath watches them with an amused smile on his face. Winded, Hope gives up and leans over to catch her breath. Vilkas watches her carefully in case she tries to go at him like that again. She lets out a big puff of air and then stands up straight, continuing to glare at Vilkas. "I'm not on a date, I'm hunting." She plainly tells him. Vilkas quickly furrows his eyebrows down at her. "So you did lie!" He shouts with a finger pointed at her. "No shit!" She shouts back, still angry with him.

"I asked Anoriath to take me out here to help me practice the bow." She explains while crossing her arms over her breasts. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down again. "You asked help outside of the Companions? What for?" He asks. No person in Whiterun should of been good enough for Hope to ask help to. The Companions should be all she needs. "Because non of you would of helped me beside the normal training crap." Hope said with a small pout.

Vilkas stares at her for a moment. She's right, non of the circle would of taken her out to practice her bow because she's not ready yet, but still. Vilkas couldn't help but feel a little offended that she didn't ask him at least once. He would've told her no, at least the first time she asked. If she was persistent with it, then he probably would of given in and taken her out. Instead, she went to him. Vilkas looked over to Anoriath with furrowed eyebrows. Anoriath shifted his eyes to the side for a moment and then shifted them back to Vilkas, then gave him an awkward wave.

"Hmm..." Vilkas thinks with his lips pursed together. "Alright." He finally speaks catching Hope off guard. She looks at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Alright?" She questions. "As in, alright you can continue with your hunt, but only if I get to tag along." He said with his arms crossed. "Huh?" Hope furrows her eyebrows at him. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do!" She points a finger at him. "Actually, I can." Vilkas said with a shrug. "No you can't! I can spend my free time how ever I want, and if that means come out here with Anoriath and hunt. Then I'm going to damn well come out here with Anoriath and hunt!" She furiosely throws a hand back in Anoriath's direction, who awkwardly clears his throat and looks away.

"That's where you're wrong, whelp." Vilkas adds a little venom in the word whelp to let her know he's serious. "You are allowed to spend your free time how ever you want, to an extent, which means you can't do...this." He motions a hand out. "You can't do reckless things like this or you could...make the Companions look bad." He nods with that explanation which makes Hope frown. "So, you either let me come with you, or I tell the others what you're doing and get your training pushed back."

He lied of course, she really could do anything she wanted on her free time and if she did get hurt, the others would just tell her it was her own fault. But Vilkas needed to lie, if he didn't he knew that she wouldn't let him come with her and he needed to come with her. He needed to make sure she wouldn't get hurt on this foolish hunt of hers. "Pushed back?" She questioned with furrowed eyebrows. Vilkas nods. "Yep, pushed back to the very beginning of your training." He nods again.

Hope frowns at the thought of that. She just now got to the part where she can fight back, no way did she want to start all over. A small annoyed groan escaped from Hope as she looked back at Anoriath. He meets her eyes and just shrugs with a half smile on his face. She turns back to Vilkas and looks up to meet his eyes. "Fine." She irritably said. Vilkas smirked, proud of his victory. "Then let's not waste any time, off we go." Vilkas walks past her slightly bumping her shoulder.

She looks back to watch him walk away, she then looks over to Anoriath who just gives her another shrug and starts to follow Vilkas. Hope let out a sigh as she did the same, she still felt uneasy going out into the wilds again, especially at night. But now that she had Vilkas with them, she felt a bit safer. If another one of those things comes after her tonight, it'll have a fight on its hands-...claws.

"Where exactly are we going?" Vilkas asks Anoriath with his eyebrows furrowed. "We're going to a cave that I know has good game." He answers. They've been walking for a while with Anoriath in the lead and that annoyed Vilkas. Anoriath assured them that he knew of the perfect place for Hope but he has yet to bring them there. "What kind of game?" Vilkas questions again. "Wolves usually." Anoriath answered.

An annoyed groan escapes from Vilkas but it is quickly cut off because Hope jabs him in the side hard with her elbow. "Ow." She rubs her elbow. "I'm wearing steel armor, what did you think would happen?" Vilkas couldn't help but chuckle. "Shut up." She quickly looks away from him while continuing to rub her elbow. "You've been telling me that a lot tonight." He said with a sigh. "And yet you're still talking." She mumbled but he heard her.

Again, he can't help but chuckle. He knew she was unhappy with him tagging along and also knew that his questions were annoying her. But he had a right to know, he had a right to know if Anoriath was leading them into any danger. "So, how many wolves we talking?" Vilkas starts to question again which makes Hope groan loudly. "Oh, last time I think I dealt with...five?" Anoriath answers a bit unsure.

"Did you kill them all?" Vilkas asked with an eyebrow raised. "Had to, I went there for their furs and if I hadn't of killed them all, they would've killed me." Anoriath said with a shrug. "If you killed them all then how do you know there will be any more there?" Vilkas furrows his eyebrows again. "Because it's a den, they always return." Anoriath answers again but with a sigh this time. Like Hope, he too was becoming tired of all of the questions.

Hope examines the area carefully as they walk through the uneven terrain, the best she could at least. They had no light to guid them, even the moons glow was hidden behind thick, dark clouds. So all they could do was watch their footing and trust Anoriath to guide them through the darkness safely. "Not much farther now." Anoriath tells them while stepping over large rocks and roots sticking out of the ground. Hope tries to watch her footing as she climbs over a rock. _**SNAP!**_ A breaking twig nearby makes Hope gasp outloud and jump which causes her to lose her footing on the large rock.

She sways to one side trying to regain her balance but she's too close to the edge now and falls. She expects a cold, hard ground beneath her when she falls, but instead, she feels two large limbs wrap around her body and then suddenly she's held against something very warm. She places a hand on the warm surface and then slowly looks up. For some reason she expects it to be Anoriath but instead, she finds Vilkas is the one holding her.

She meets his eyes and for a moment, she sees something. Something she's never seen before, she doesn't know what though because no one's ever looked at her like that before. Her eyes widen and her cheeks flare up. She quickly pushes Vilkas off her and then straightens her cloths out as if nothing just happened. "You okay?" Anoriath asked walking over. She looks at him and gives him a nod. "What startled you?" He asked with concern in his eyes.

"Huh?" Hope questions with furrowed eyebrows. "You gasped, did you see something that scared you?" Anoriath asks more clearly. "O-oh..." Hope stutters and then clears her throat while looking away from him. "I just heard something is all, it was probably nothing." Hope said with a small shrug. "It was a rabbit." Vilkas told her as he stood in the same spot she pushed him to. "Did you see it?" Anoriath asked with a lifted eyebrow.

He smelled it actually, but he can't tell them that. "Yeah." He answers rather quickly. "It went right by my feet just a second ago." Vilkas said with his finger pointed in the made up direction. "Oh." Anoriath looks in the direction trying to see but there was too much brush in the way and it was too dark. "Well if it's nothing to worry about then we should get back to it." He said with a nod to Vilkas and Hope both. They both nod back and start to follow him down the path he lead them to.

The rest of the way was filled with nothing but the buzzing and chirping from insects around them. Occasionally, Hope would hear something move near them but she would try to ignore it so she wouldn't worry the others. She doesn't know why, but for some reason the silence between her and Vilkas felt...intense, heated maybe? She couldn't figure it out. So, until they reached their destination it was going to be nothing but uncomfortable silence between them.

Finally, they're there. What was probably only five minutes since their awkward embrace felt like an eternity. The intense silence between them almost drove her mad and she wonders if Vilkas felt it to.

Anoriath had lead them to a cave that laid on the side of the mountain. Hope could tell it was near a giant's camp because she could see the large glow from the usual large fire that giants had. "Alright." Anoriath finally spoke as he turned around to face them. "This is it. This is the one." He told them with a thumb pointed back at the cave.

Hope and Vilkas both look at it over his shoulders at the same time. A quiet, unsure groan escapes from Vilkas. Hope shifts her eyes to the side to slightly look at him. Vilkas has seen this cave before but he's never been in it, there was never a reason. No one ever reported trouble from it so no one bothered to hire a Companion to go in it. "You sure it's just wolves in there?" Vilkas asked while looking back to Anoriath.

Anoriath nods. "Every time I've come to this cave it's only been wolves." He tells them. Vilkas moves his eyes back to the cave, still feeling unsure about this. A foul stench leaked from the it, when Vilkas inhaled it, it made him want to instantly be sick but he held it together. He knew the usual scent that came from wolves, and this wasn't it. Anoriath turns and heads into the cave, Hope starts to follow but Vilkas quickly grabs her arm and stops her.

She turns and looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. "I don't like the looks of this cave." Vilkas told her with a serious look on his face. She furrows her eyebrows down even more. "Let's just go look for game somewhere else." He almost souded like he was begging. The corner of Hope's mouth curves upward a bit, she can't help but find his worrying amusing. "I'm sure it's fine." She tells him as she removes her arm from his hand. "Anoriath's been here before, I trust that he knows what he's doing." She tells him with confidence but Vilkas still didn't like it.

Before he could try and stop her again, she quickly turned and ran off into the cave to catch up with Anoriath. Vilkas let out a sigh as he watched her disappear into the dark cave. He didn't like this one bit, but he wasn't about to let Hope go in there with out him. So, he follows.


	13. Chapter 13

**So sorry for the late update! I've been terribly sick all week and was having a hard time doing anything! xC I stayed up tonight though to finish this chapter because I felt bad that it took so long to be put up! I didn't proof read the last part of it because it's late and I'm tired, so I hope it's not too bad. I hope you can all still enjoy this chapter! Sorry again! D:**

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When they enter the cave it's pitch black, Hope can't even see her hand in front of her face. "Anoriath?" Hope calls. Suddenly she's bumped forward and stumbles but strong hands grip her arms to keep her on her feet. "Sorry." Vilkas apologizes. "Oh, it's okay. Rather you than something else." She chuckled uncomfortably as she allowed him to keep a hold of her. The darkness was making her uneasy and having Vilkas there close to her, made her feel better.

"Anoriath." Hope calls again. "I'm here." Anoriath replies but she can't see him. "How in oblivion are we supposed to hunt if we can't see anything?" Vilkas asks. "I have a solution for that, just...give me...one minute." They both hear some movement and shuffling. Then they hear what sounds like rocks moving around. "What are you doing?" Hope asks with furrowed eyebrows. "Just...one...minute!" Anoriath groaned loudly and then shortly after they hear loud clattering on the ground. It sounded like he just threw a huge rock.

 _'This idiot.'_ Is all Vilkas can think. The sounds that were made by the large, tossed rock echoed through the cave and he knew any chance they might of had at surprising their prey, was now gone. Vilkas could feel Hope tense beneath him from the loud echoes, so he gave her arms a small squeeze to remind her that he was there. He can't help but feel a little pleased when he feels her relax against him. "Alright, just hold tight and I'll have some torches lit up in a sec." Anoriath tells them happily.

"Torches?" Hope questions. "That's right. Since I come here so often I've stored torches over here so that I would always have light." He explains. The warm feeling of relief spreads through out Hope's body. _'Light, thank the gods.'_ Hope lets out a small sigh as she allows her muscles to relax against Vilkas. It catches him off guard but he soon learns to enjoy it for a bit. This will probably be the only time she'll ever be this relaxed with him.

 _ **CLINK, CLINK, CLINK.**_ They both hear two rocks being hit together as well as seeing sparks fly in the air. Hope watches a small glow appear and then hears Anoriath lightly blow on the growing fire. The dim glow lights Anoriaths face as well as making shadows dance on the cave wall behind him. She waits anxiously while keeping her eyes on Anoriath for fear something might grab him from the darkness behind him.

Finally the small fire grows and consumes the top of the large torch. Anoriath quickly stands with it and another one in his other hand. He lights the other one with the lit torch and then walks over to Hope and Vilkas. He stops in front of them and lifts an eyebrow at them. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at him. "What?" She questioned.

Anoriath moved his eyes up to Vilkas and then back down to Hope. "Little close aren't we?" He said with a smirk. Hope tenses up as does Vilkas. He quickly lets go of her arms and she quickly takes a step forward away from him. "I was only making sure she was okay." Vilkas said while clearing his throat. "Sure, sure." Anoriath nods while handing Vilkas the other torch. Vilkas reaches out for it and when he does Anoriath basically throws it at him.

Vilkas stumbles forward with the torch in hand to keep it from falling to the ground, he looks up at Anoriath with furrowed eyebrows. He still had a smirk on his face but in his eyes Vilkas could see there was nothing amusing in them. His eyes were sharp like daggers and stabbed through him, at least they tried to. _'The hell?'_ Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down more at him. Was the smirk and amused attitude just a cover? If so, then what was he trying to cover up. Jelousy perhaps?

 _'Oh.'_ Now it makes sense to him. Anoriath was jelouse of Vilkas, he was jealous of how flustered Vilkas can make Hope, he was jealous that it was Vilkas who was always around when Hope got scared. "Hmph." Vilkas exclaimed with a sneer on his face. Anoriath's eyes sharpen as the smirk on his face slowly disappears. Him and Vilkas both stand there with their chests heaved out and their fists clenched tightly at their sides. Vilkas towered over Anoriath like he did all elves, but that didn't make Anoriath back down.

He's not sure what brought this on, but something inside Vilkas changed in that moment. Something like dominance formed inside him. He can feel the wolf inside him growl as the thought of Anoriath having urges towards Hope comes to his mind. No one should be allowed to have such feelings for Hope, no one besides him. _'What?'_ Vilkas furrows his eyebrows as he questions himself. Where did this come from all of sudden? Since when did he ever think of such things?

"Wow." Hope's echoing voice made them both snap out of it and quickly look around in a hurry. At some point Hope had broken off from them and wondered on her own. "Hope?" Anoriath quickly calls as he hurries through the cave's passage. Vilkas quickly follows but he doesn't follow Anoriath, he follows her scent which is where Anoriath was heading. _'Stupid elf.'_ Is all Vilkas can think as he is nearly stepping on his heels.

He can sense Anoriath's frustration rise inside him, but he was too busy looking for Hope to do something about it. They both get through the passage and walk into a large, empty den. At the same time they both let out a relieved sigh when they see Hope standing in the middle of the large area, looking around. They both quickly look at each other with a glare on their face when they hear each others sigh.

Anoriath quickly snaps his head away from Vilkas and walks over to Hope. "What are you doing?" Anoriath furrowed his eyebrows at Hope. "Huh?" Hope looked at him with a lifted eyebrow questioning the tone of his voice. "You shouldn't wonder off like that, you could've been hurt, or worse." He tells her now with eyebrows knit together in worry. "Tch." She quickly looks away from him. "Now you sound like Vilkas." She mumbles. Anoriath furrows his eyebrows down at her again. Being compared to Vilkas didn't make him very happy.

Vilkas stays standing in the same spot. He looks around the large den with his eyebrows furrowed. He can see truffles of hair laying on the ground with dried blood stains beneath them. He quietly smells the damp cave air and can tell that wolves used to live here. But something has happened to them, something recently because the smell of copper was in the air.

"Is this where the wolves usually are?" Vilkas asks making Hope and Anoriath both look back at him. Anoriath's eyebrows shoot up, he was so focused on Hope he had completely forgotten about that. He looks away from Vilkas and quickly looks around the large, empty area. "Have you come here to hunt recently?" Vilkas asks again. Anoriath looks around a bit more and then looks back at Vilkas to shake his head no.

"Thought so." Vilkas mumbles to himself as he looks around more. "Maybe some other hunter did?" Hope wondered out loud while she started to look around herself. _'No, that's not it.'_ Vilkas was sure it couldn't of been another hunter. The smell of wolf and blood wasn't the only scent moving around in the cave. The foul stench that Vilkas smelled outside the cave was stronger now and whatever that was, he knows is responsible for this. "We should go." Vilkas said as he tried to not sound alarmed.

"Huh?" Hope looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "How come?" She asked. "Because there's nothing here." He said with a calm smile. "We're just wasting our time with this cave and besides, I know some better spots for hunting." Vilkas said whike approaching her casually. "If we leave now, we'll have plenty of time to catch ourselves some good game before it gets too late." Vilkas said casually again. "Hmm...I guess." Hope said with her head tilted and eyes on the ground.

Anoriath snaps his head to Hope. "Wait." He speaks up. Hope looks at him as does Vilkas but when he looks at him, he has his eyebrows furrowed. "There's more to this cave." Anoriath said with a charming smile. "I bet the wolves are deeper with in." He points behind him at an opening on the cave wall. Vilkas looks at Hope and can see her eyes light up which makes his stomach turn.

"No, we can't." Vilkas quickly speaks up taking them both by surprise. "Why?" Hope asked. "Because..." He trails off trying to come up with a reason that she would believe. He shifts his eyes over to Anoriath who was smirking at him. He looked pleased with Vilkas's struggle. A scowl takes place on Vilkas's face as he looks back to Hope. "Because I don't trust he knows what he's doing." He tells her with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why?" Hope asked again. "He's been here before, I'm sure he knows the place pretty well." She said with the corners of her mouth curving up into an attempted smile. "Well I'm not so sure." Vilkas tells her with the scowl remaining on his face. "If you're not sure then you're more then welcome to leave." Anoriath said with a hand waving to the direction of the exit. Vilkas looks at him with a deep glare on his face.

"Come on Hope, I'll show you the way." Anoriath said with another charming smile aimed towards her. Hope looks at him and nods. She then looks back to Vilkas. "Like Anoriath said, you're more than welcome to leave if you're not comfortable with this." With that said she takes the torch right out of Vilkas's hand and then turns to follow Anoriath towards the next passage. Vilkas scoffs at her as he watches them go through the opening of the wall.

Stupid girl, couldn't she see that he was only trying to protect her? Keep her safe from whatever lies deep within the cave? But she did see, she did know that Vilkas was only worried and that's what annoyed her. She didn't need him to worry about her, she didn't need him to babysit her. She would never become a true warrior if she didn't take chances like this and if that upset Vilkas, then that was his problem.

 _'How can she be so clueless.'_ Vilkas thinks to himself while now staring at an empty passage way. The passage turned soon after its entrance, so it didn't take Hope and Anoriath long to disappear. _'That's just fine then.'_ He decides as he turns around to head for the exit. _'If she wants to find danger with that elf and get herself killed, then that's just fine.'_ He scowls as he walks through the passage that leads to the exit of the cave.

 _'She'll be less trouble if she's dead anyways.'_ That hateful thought stops Vilkas in his tracks. He stands there, in front of the exit with his eyes down on the ground and a frown on his face. He didn't mean that, gods no, he would never mean that. He was just irritated that she didn't trust him like she did that elf.

A sigh comes from Vilkas as he brings his hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. He stands there with his eyes closed, thinking. Part of him feels that she should go through this cave with out him and if she gets hurt, it would be her own fault and it would teach her a lesson. But then another great part of him tells him, no, begs him to turn back around and go after her. She may not listen to him but she won't make him leave. Vilkas sighs loudly as he drops his hand and quickly turns to head back into the cave. _'Stupid girl.'_

Hope follows Anoriath close from behind with the torch held high. This cave was eerie and it was quiet, too quiet. She starts to understand Vilkas's worry and concern. _'Maybe I should of listened to him...'_ She thinks to herself with a fearful frown growing. "How much longer till we reach the end of the cave?" Hope asks Anoriath in a whisper. "Not much farther." He answered back in a whisper and for a moment, Hope could swear he sounded unsure. "Have you been down this way before?" She asks with her eyebrows knit together in concern.

Anoriath's eyes flick to her and then quickly flick away, he clears his throat. "No, but I have a good feeling we're almost there!" He tells her in confidence. Hope's frown returns as her knitted eyebrows get lower. _'Come on Hope, I'll show you the way.'_ His words ring in her head. _'More like I'll guess the way.'_ She thinks to herself with a contempt expression now taking place on her face.

"Ah, there we go!" Anoriath said with a wide smile. Hope moves her eyes past his shoulder and can see the large opening he is seeing. _'Finally.'_ She sighs but she doesn't feel relieved. They're this close to the last cavern of the cave and they have yet to hear a single howl, growl, or anything for that matter. It was still way too quiet and it wasn't the good kind of quiet because this whole time she had not heard a single chirp or buzz from any insect, which was never a good sign.

"I'm not feeling so sure about this Anoriath." Hope whispers as she continues to follow him closely. "It'll be fine. Wolves aren't that tough." Anoriath reassured her but he misunderstood. That wasn't what she was worried about, she became worried that they would find more than wolves in the depths of this cave. _'Maybe it's empty like the first one.'_ She tells herself, trying to convince herself that, that was the only reason it was so quiet.

She suddenly feels a longing for Vilkas, wishing he were here and wishing he would drag her away like he's been wanting to do so since the very beginning of this. But he's not there, he's left because she stupidly told him to. _'The one time he actually listens.'_ She thinks to herself with her jaw clenched and stomach turning. They were drawing near to the opening now and the feeling Hope had just moments ago, has increased greatly.

The first thing she spots is splattered blood on the ground and that makes her stop in her tracks. "There! There's a sign that the wolves are here." Anoriath said with an excited smile forming on his face. He was completely unaware that fear has taken a hold of Hope. She eyes the splattered blood and sees something laying ontop of it. It was a thick, tuft of fur covered in blood. She can't see it till the glow of her torch reaches it and that's when she can see its color.

"Anoriath." She stops in her tracks again. He stops and turns his head slightly so he can look at her over his shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked with his eyebrows knit together. "I think." She stops to swallow a hard lump rising in her throat. "I think there's something here, but I don't think it's wolves." She tells him with fear showing in her voice. "What makes you say that?" He asks. "Because I think that blood right there." She nods her head in its direction. "Belongs to the wolves."

Anoriath furrows his eyebrows down at her and then turns his head to look at it himself. He hands Hope his torch and then crouches low to the ground to quietly make his way over to the splattered blood. "Wait!" She cries out in a whisper, trying to stop him but he just holds up a hand and continues to make his way over to it. He stops next to it and examines it closely, he notices the tuft of fur and picks it up to examine it.

It was hard for him to make out its color with out his light but he could feel that it was thick like a wolf's coat. It could just as easily belong to a dog though, so he couldn't be sure. Hope watches with fearful eyes, she watches him squint his eyes at the large tuft and slowly pull it apart with his fingers to examine it better.

All sorts of emotions were flowing through Hope. She felt anxious because of the unknown in this situation. She felt angry that he wasn't listening to her. She felt annoyed because he was just sitting there staring at the thick piece of fur and she felt regret, for not listening to Vilkas and leaving the cave when he felt uneasy. _'I wish Vilkas were here.'_ That's a thought she never imagined would come to her mind, but it did and it was there.

Suddenly, all emotion that she was feeling washed away and was replaced by something else. It was replaced by fear. She can feel her own face sink and go pale as she watches something large near Anoriath stand. From the distance and in the dark, one would mistake it for a large cave rock, but that wasn't what it was. But gods, how she wished that it was.

The first thing that came to her mind was the beast from that night but it was something worse, something bigger. "An-" Her voice breaks and her knees start to tremble. "Anor-" She tries again but she's cut off when she sees the large head on the form slowly turn towards them. "Huh?" Anoriath picks up on Hope's voice and looks over to her. His eyebrows furrow and his eyes widen when he sees the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked while standing up to his feet but he doesn't move away from that spot. "There's someth-" She loses her voice when she sees the large figure slowly approach Anoriath from behind. It completely towers over him and hunches over with long arms that reach the ground below it.

The clouds in the sky start to part and make way for the moons light to show through. The moons glow beams through the cracks of the ceiling above them and when Anoriath finally catches on and looks behind him. Is when the beams of light show on the creature before them, revealing its large, dark three eyes and massive jaws that gaped open with bands of saliva mixed blood dripping out.

Anoriath's mouth fell open and the moment it did is when the large creature lets out a tremendous roar. "Troll!" Anoriath yells while quickly taking off. He runs past Hope who stands there in shock with her eyes wide and jaw hung open. She's never seen one before but she's heard of them and what their capable of. Erik's father told them stories of trolls and what they've done to people he knew. She never believed him because he always told them over eggraturated stories to keep them from wondering the village but now, seeing this one in front of her, makes her believe every word of those stories.

Vilkas reaches the first den of the cave and that's when he hears it. The roar of a troll. "Troll!" Anoriath's voice carries through out the cave. "Ssshit!" Vilkas yells as he takes off for the next passage. He knew it, he knew something bad was in this cave but he didn't expect it to be a troll. Normally they live high up on mountains or farther north where it's colder. So it didn't make sense that one was here. _'Gods, please let there only be one.'_

That prayer goes unheard because as Hope stands there, frozen with fear. Behind the first troll comes another, and then another. The other two aren't as big as the first one, but they look meaner and just as dangerous. The first one lets out another great roar, it's so loud that Hope feels like it's rumbling the cave. It has something in its hand but Hope doesn't dare take her eyes off its face to see what it is.

Suddenly it throws whatever it had right at Hope but it misses her. It flies right by her face and when it does, she can feel something wet splatter on the side of her face. She lets one of the torches drop from one of her hands. She then lifts her free hand up to her face so she can touch whatever it was that was on her face with her fingers. She slowly lowers her hand and moves her eyes down to it.

Something dark and thick laid on the tips of her fingers, she doesn't need light to know what it is. In that small moment when her eyes are away from the creatures before her, she suddenly gets the feeling to duck. So, she ducks.

She moves so fast she can't keep her balance which causes her to topple over to the ground. Good thing she did because the moment she fell to ground is the moment the giant trolls hand comes into contact with the caves wall, which was where her head would of been if she hadn't lost her balance. She quickly looks to where the trolls hand landed and saw the cave wall crack and crumble from the impact.

The trolls hand was still stuck to the wall. She can see blood running down the cave wall from where its hand was. She watches its hand slowly pull its hand off the wall and she can see skin from its knuckles stick to the cracked cave wall. She follows its hand with her eyes and in that minute of it getting ready for another attack, she watches the wound on its hand heal.

Erik's father told them about that with trolls. He told them that they were practically immortal with only one weakness, and that was fire. _'Fire!'_ Her eyes move to the torch on the ground next to her. The first one she dropped had went out but the other one was still lit. The flame was small and it wasn't going to stop all three of the trolls, but it was her only shot at getting away from them alive.

Without wasting another moment, Hope quickly swipes the torch up and gets to her feet. The large troll was getting ready to take another swing at Hope but before it can even get started, she waves the torch right in its face catching it off guard. A startled snort-like-growl came from it as it stumbled back. She watched it with wide eyes, she didn't think that would work but if fire is its only weakness, it made sense that it would be afraid of it.

As the large troll stammered back, Hope flicked her eyes to the other two behind it to see what they were going to do. She was surprised but relieved to see that they hadn't made any attempt to try and attack her. In fact, it looked like they haven't moved from their spots since Hope first saw them. She quickly looks back at the large troll and can see it regaining itself, so without wasting anymore time. She throws the torch right at its face and then takes off in the opposite direction.

Vilkas is running through the second passage and it was all turns. He could never get a good look out in front of him so there was no chance of him seeing Hope until he ran into her. He turns a corner and immediately runs into someone. He catches himself on the wall before he loses his footing but he can hear whoever he just ran into fall to the ground. His heart leaps in his chest as the image of Hope comes to his mind, but when he looks down at the ground his heart falls as a frown forms on his face.

It was Anoriath he had ran into instead of Hope. He looked down at Anoriath with his eyebrows furrowed, but then a thought popped into his head. _'I found Anoriath, so that must mean Hope is nearby.'_ He quickly looks up from Anoriath and watches the next turn in the passage closely. Vilkas's frown reappears when a minute goes by and he still doesn't see Hope. He hears a low groan come from Anoriath as he gets to his feet.

Suddenly, all Vilkas can see is red and he can't stop himself. He quickly grabs Anoriath by the collar of his shirt and slams him against the wall. Anoriath gasps out in pain and then winces when he feels Vilkas slowly drag him up the wall so that they are face to face. Anoriath grips Vilkas's wrists and looks him in the eyes. He was going to give him a mean glare but the look Vilkas had on his face made him re-think that.

"Where's Hope?" Vilkas's voice is deep and dark. Anoriath furrows his eyebrows down at Vilkas and then looks in the direction he came from. "I thought..." He trails off as he continues to stare down the passage way. "I thought she was right behind me..." He said in a frightened whisper. A low growl escapes Vilkas as he lets go of Anoriath and lets him drop to the ground hard. With out giving Anoriath a second glance, Vilkas takes off down the passage and quickly disappears around the corner.

He hurries through the passage and it's not long when he finally comes to a long and straight part of it, but he's not relieved. He's shocked and frightened because at the far end of the straight passage was Hope, who was running away from a very large and VERY angry troll. "Vilkas!" She screams when she sees him. For a moment, Vilkas froze and watched the large troll chase Hope with the intent to kill.

In the center of its face was a large burn that didn't heal. Fire was the only thing trolls couldn't heal from. This troll was so big that the top of its head was hitting the ceiling of the cave, Vilkas has never seen a troll this big before, but he has heard of them. They were rare and around for only one reason. Mating season. ' _Shit._ '

"Come on! Run!" Vilkas shouts as he makes the 'hurry up' motion with his hand. Hope runs past and Vilkas isn't far behind her. They both have difficulty running around the sharp turns of the passage, but if they had trouble with it then surely the large troll would.

They soon realize that they are very wrong when the troll uses the sharp turns to its advantage. It had long arms so it was able to grasp the turning walls and launch itself forward to gain on them quickly. _'There's no way we're going to be able to lose this troll. We're going to have to fight him.'_ The thought of that made Vilkas's stomach turn. If it were him, Farkas, and Aela that were up against this massive troll, then they would have a chance at winning. But right now, it was him, a scrawny wood elf, and Hope. Who still didn't know how to fight properly.

Hope's startled scream made Vilkas quickly snap out of it. He stops realizing that she was no longer with him. He turns and saw that Hope had fallen to the ground. When she was turning the next corner, the troll had slammed its giant hand on the wall above her catching her off guard and making her lose her footing. Vilkas can see the troll waste's no time in getting at Hope, so he has to be quick.

He runs right over to her, grabs her arm and is able to pull her out of the trolls way before it can grab her. He doesn't wait for her to get to her feet. Instead he just picks her up by her arm and slings her over his shoulder while continuing to run away. Hope's surprised by the sudden movement but she doesn't argue, she knows it's faster this way but she didn't like the view.

Her bottom was facing forward and her head was facing towards the pursuing troll. She clung onto Vilkas tightly as she watched it chase them down with blood thirsty eyes. "Hurry up Vilkas!" She yells while punching his back repeatedly. "I'm trying!" He yells back, continuing to run. Turning the sharp corners while running was hard before, but now that he had Hope hanging over his shoulder, he felt like it was going to be impossible to get away.

He can feel himself slowing and he can feel the troll gaining on them. _'I don't know how much longer I can keep going like this.'_ Doubt seeps into his mind as he starts to think about the large den and other passage he still needed to get through. _'Hold a moment.'_ He furrows his eyebrows as he starts to think while continuing to run. At first he figured they would at least escape the cave and then fight the troll outside but now the first den of the cave seemed like a better place for it.

Outside the cave might be too big of an area, the troll can easily just go after one of them, which will only leave the other two to fight at its back, which would do them no good. A trolls back was tougher than any shield he'd ever held, arrows would just bounce right off its tough hide and his sword would be useless against its muscles. No, they needed to go for the head. It was another weak spot of the creatures but no one's ever gotten close enough to strike at the head unless they were being eaten.

Hope and Anoriath both have bows and arrows though, if Vilkas can distract the troll while they both shoot at its head from far sides of the den, then maybe they have a chance. But like the hide on its back, its head was tough. They would need to be at a good position and be a very good shot, because once the troll gets a whiff of what they're doing. It will go completely berserk and kill them all. Vilkas tightens his jaw as he realizes that they are drawing near to the large den, he didn't like this plan but it was all he could think of and it was their best chance at making it out of this cave alive. "Listen up Hope. I have a plan." Vilkas begins to explain.

Anoriath waits impatiently in the den, he walks in back and forth motion till he hears loud commotion come from the passage way. He stops and stares at the walls opening with wide eyes. When he sees Vilkas run through with Hope over his shoulder he feels relieved but that relief quickly disappears when he sees the large troll come crashing through. "You led it hear!?" Anoriath yells as he gets ready to run for it.

"We didn't have a choice!" Vilkas yells back as he quickly takes Hope off his shoulder. Anoriath watches Hope draw her bow with an arrow ready, she turns and looks at him. "Anoriath, go over to that side of the den!" She motioned her head in the direction of the far side of the den. Anoriath looks to it and then looks back at her like she's crazy but she's already in position and no longer paying any attention to him.

He doesn't know what they're plan is but he didn't have any other choice. Anoriath draws his bow and does what Hope instructed him to do, when he got in position he saw that he was directly across from Hope. The large troll tries going for Anoriath first but a large stone hitting the side of its head directs its attention away from him. It turns its head to Vilkas and growls. Vilkas throws another large rock at its face making it angrier. "Come on big boy! Come and get me!" He yells while walking backwards at a fast pace.

The troll lets out a great roar and then charges at Vilkas with its large arms grabbing the stone floor to launch itself forward. Vilkas quickly draws his sword as he continues to fast walk backwards. He would prefer to run but the troll needed to be in the right position, this was going to have to be close, closer than he liked but there was little choice in the matter.

Finally, it was in the right spot. "Now!" Vilkas shouts with his sword raised in the air. Suddenly everything seemed to slow down as Hope and Anoriath pull their arrows back as far as they can. The trolls head is in their sights but only for so long. Hope tightens her jaw as she straightens her back and aims her arrow for the side of its head. She takes in a deep breath and waits, but only for a moment. Then, she releases and her arrow flies through the air.

Anoriath's released his arrow the moment she did and it seemed like they were in perfect sync. At the same time their arrows hit the troll in the side of the head and stops, but it doesn't drop. The troll hunches over with a large hand covering the top of its head, trying to figure out what just happened. All three stare at it with wide, anxious eyes. ' _Did the arrows not stick?'_ Vilkas worries with his chest heaving in and out heavily.

A low growl is heard from the troll that makes them all become tense. It slowly lowers its hand while straightening itself out. Vilkas can see its eyes are closed, it appears to be trying to regain itself. He quickly shifts his eyes to the two arrows that Anoriath and Hope shot, they were both stick out from the side of its head. They went deep but not deep enough to kill it.

Suddenly its eyes fly open and when they do, Vilkas can see their color go from black to a deep, blood red. _'Oh shit.'_ Its breathing turns heavy and is slow at first but it quickens fast with its shoulders moving in sync with its chest. Its brow completely furrows with rage as its mouth sneers open. This troll was now completely enraged and no longer had control of itself. "Run!" Vilkas shouts.

The moment they all make a run for it, the troll starts to go crazy. It starts throwing its arms around while moving in all kinds of directions. Anoriath dodged one of its flinging arms and then made a run for it. Vilkas had to duck and then roll to avoid a large rock that the troll had just thrown. It was doing anything it could in its fit of rage and that included destroying the cave around them. It was grabbing large stalactites that stuck out of the ceiling to throw but in doing that, it was causing the cave ceiling to crack and collapse.

One of the stalactites it threw landed right in front of Hope making her come to a sudden stop. Vilkas is a head of her but he knows that she has stopped, so he stops. He stops right in front of the opening in the wall that leads to the exit and looks back at her. She's looking up at the ceiling, watching deep cracks form and branch out on the stony surface. She can see parts of the ceiling already beginning to fall making the cave roof above them shake from its loss of support and she can feel the ground below them shake from the impact of the fallen roof pieces. The entire cave was going to collapse.

"Hope!" Vilkas shouts over the destruction the troll was causing. Hope snaps her head to him and can see more pieces of the ceiling have fallen behind her in the path she needed to go. She starts to run around the large stalactite but a loud, pained roar comes from the troll behind her. She stops again to look at it, a large piece of the ceiling has fallen right on top of the troll and was pinning it to the ground.

The troll clawed at the ground trying to get out from beneath the heavy stone piece but it couldn't. It was stuck. "Hope!" Vilkas shouts louder making her jump. She was running out of time. Hope quickly turns back around and takes off towards Vilkas who was reaching out for her.

Vilkas can feel small rubble land on top of his head, he looks up and can see that the ceiling above him, the ceiling above their way out, was about to fall. He quickly looks back to Hope who was still a good yard away. "Hurry!" He shouts with panic showing on his face. She picks up the pace and sprints towards Vilkas. His eyes widen as he sees the entire ceiling behind her collapse. It was only a matter of time before the whole place came down on them.

He can hear the cracks in the ceiling above him deepen and spread out through the passage way behind him, but he stays. He stays with his hand reaching out for Hope, there was no way he was going to leave her behind in this and if that meant getting crushed or trapped beneath the collapsing cave, then so be it.

It feels like it takes forever for Hope to reach him, but when she does, he takes her hand and pulls her to him. He then swoops her up in his arms bridel style and sprints through the crumbling passage. He can feel her wrap her arms around his neck and bury her head into his shoulder. He holds onto her tightly as he runs with the cave collapsing behind him. He doesn't know if he's going to be able to get them out in time, but he's going to damn well try.

They're drawing near the exit, Vilkas can hear Anoriath calling their names. _'Almost there. We're almost there!'_ He tightens his grip on Hope as he starts to run faster. If they make it out of this alive the first thing Vilkas is going to do is beat the crap out of that wood elf. The thought of it really motivated him.

Finally the exit is in view and before they know it, they are standing outside with the cold Skyrim breeze hitting their hot, sweaty skin. Just as they step outside, the cave behind them completely collapses and the entry way to it is blocked with large stone pieces that once stood as its ceiling. Vilkas and Hope both breath heavily as they stare at the newly collapsed cave. Vilkas did most of the running for them, but the fear and excitement from it made Hope completely out of breath.

Vilkas lets out a deep breath of air as he slowly puts Hope down on her feet. She keeps a hold of Vilkas's arm to steady herself and then lean over with her other hand pressed to her knee. Vilkas places a hand on her back and rubs it to get her attention. She slightly lifts her head to look at him. "You okay?" He asked between heavy breaths. "I think-" Hope lets out a deep breath and then stands up straight to fully look at him. "I think so." She said with a small smile. Vilkas lets out a relieved sigh as he lifts a hand to his face to rub his forehead with his eyes closed.

"That was close." Anoriaths voice makes Vilkas's eyes fly open. He shifts his head to the side to look at Anoriath and can see a small smile on his face. _'Oh, yeah.'_ He remembers what he really wanted to do if they made it out of the cave alive. He lowers his hand back down and casually walks over to Anoriath. He stops in front of him and just stares at him for a moment. Anoriath furrows his eyebrows down at Vilkas wondering what he is doing, then just a moment later, he finds out.

 _ **CRACK!**_ His nose breaks from the impact of Vilkas's fist. Anoriath stumbles back and then falls to the ground with his hand covering his face. "Vilkas!" Hope shouts with wide eyes staring at Vilkas. Vilkas grabs Anoriath's shirt and lifts him from the ground, he brings him close to his face. "Wolf's den huh?!" Vilkas shouts with anger. Anoriath grips Vilkas's wrists tightly. "How was I supposed to know it was a troll!?" Anoriath shouts back.

Vilkas sneers at him and draws his face closer to him. "It's not his fault Vilkas." Hope cuts in making him shift his eyes to her. He quickly puts them back on Anoriath with a bigger sneer. "Okay, fine, it's not his fault. But you do know what is?" Vilkas tightens his grip on Anoriaths shirt. "It's his fault that you almost got killed by that troll!" Vilkas's anger starts to take control making him shake Anoriath a bit.

"Huh?" Hope furrows her eyebrows. "He left you behind when you discovered the trolls nest, he's a coward and left you behind for that troll so he could get away!" Vilkas shakes Anoriath hard a couple more times and then throws him to the ground. "I did not!" Anoriath shouts while he slightly sits up from the ground. "Oh yeah? Then explain why you were so far a head of her when I ran into you. Explain why you never went back with me to get her!" Anoriath just sits there, with his eyebrow furrowed and mouth open. He didn't know what to say.

"Let's not forget he sure as hell didn't hesitate to leave the cave with out you when it was falling on top of our heads!" Vilkas takes a step towards Anoriath getting ready to either punch him or kick him. "That's enough!" Hope quickly ran out in front him to keep him from getting any closer to Anoriath. She places both hands on Vilkas's chest to get him to back up. "Anoriath was just afraid, we were all afraid! I know he didn't leave me behind on purpose because I froze in fear! I'm the coward, not him."

"You're wrong." Vilkas took a couple more steps back while shaking his head. "You're no coward Hope. I saw the burn mark on the trolls face, I know you must of hit it a couple times with the torch to be able to get away." Vilkas said with a deep sigh. "I didn't mean to..." They both hear Anoriath speak softly. They look at him and see he was now laying on his back with both hands covering his eyes. "I didn't mean to leave her behind..." He said with a sigh.

"That troll was just so big and...it took me by surprise..." He continues to speak softly as he keeps his hands on his face. "Why was that troll so big?" Hope suddenly asks while turning to Vilkas. "It was a male troll." He explains. Anoriath lifts his torso off the ground to look at them. "Male troll?" Anoriath questioned with furrowed eyebrows. "But they're so rare, and you never see them in this area." Anoriath said while shifting his eyes to the ground. "It's mating season for them." Vilkas explains again. "I guess that explains the other two I saw behind it..." Hope mentions with her arms crossed.

"You saw two more?" Vilkas asked with furrowed eyebrows. "I did, but they didn't chase me like the big one." She explained. "Thank the gods for that." Anoriath said with a sigh as he rubs his forehead with his hand. "I guess it's not a bad thing this cave collapsed then." Vilkas said while turning to look at it. "If it hadn't then nearby villages would have a troll problem." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

"So...you're really saying that it's a good thing that Anoriath brought us here?" Hope asked with a sly smile. "No, not at all." Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at her and then at Anoriath. A loud sigh is heard from Anoriath. "I'm sorry Hope." Anoriath said while getting up to his feet. He walks over with his head down in shame. "It's okay Anoriath, I'm not mad at you at all." She said with a friendly smile. Anoriath slightly looked up at her and returned the smile. "I am." Vilkas grumbled.

"Oh shut it!" Hope gives him a small shove. Vilkas lets out an irritated groan as he looks back to Anoriath. He did look regretful but he wondered if it was only because Hope survived. If she had died, would he be glad he at least made it? The thought of that made Vilkas angry so he had to force himself to stop thinking about it. "Come on." Vilkas said while starting to walk away from the collapsed cave. "Let's go back home." He sighed.

"Huh?" Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she quickly followed. "But we didn't hunt anything!" She protests. "You got to shoot at a troll and didn't miss. I'd say that's close enough." Vilkas replied as he continued to walk. "No, no it doesn't!" She protests again with a finger pointed at him. Vilkas just waves her off as he continues to walk with her beside him. Anoriath walks behind them and watches them with envious eyes.

"I'll make it up to you." He hears Vilkas say. "Oh yeah? How?" Hope asked with her arms crossed. "I'll take you hunting tomorrow night, but you have to promise me something." He leans closer to her so that Anoriath can't hear. _'Hm?'_ Anoriath eyes them suspiciously. "Don't bring the elf." He whispers with a hand cupped over the side of his mouth. Hope gives him a quick shove. "That's mean." She said while looking away which made Vilkas chuckle.

 _'I heard that.'_ Anoriath wants to say but he doesn't. He doesn't want to ruin the moment and he couldn't help but agree with Vilkas. He did cause them a lot of trouble tonight, so maybe it would be best if he sat the next one out. Even though the thought of them being alone in the forest did not make Anoriath happy.


	14. Chapter 14

After that night, Vilkas kept his word and took Hope out to hunt the next night. He first wanted to go hunt in the plains near Rorikstead, but Hope refused to. "Why?" Vilkas questioned with a lifted eyebrow. "Because..." Hope trailed off trying to think of an excuse. Vilkas shifted his weight to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. He kept an eyebrow raised at her.

"I just don't think it's a good area for hunting, that's why." Hope said while crossing her arms and turning her head away from him. Vilkas scoffs. "Of course it is! It has foxes, elks, and rabbits! When you have those three populating an area, there's bound to be wolves. Not to mention the town and its tavern will be close by, so if we stay out too late we can always just stay at the inn." Vilkas makes a good point, he knows he does, but for some reason she doesn't.

Hope stubbornly shakes her head. "It's not a good spot." She sid again, sticking to her excuse. Vilkas lets out an aggravated sigh as he pinches bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He wants to try and reason with her about it, but she's stubborn and he knows they'll just spend all night arguing. "Okay, fine." He sighs in defeat, which makes her smile.

Vilkas places his hands on his sides as he starts to look around them. He and Hope were standing outside of the stables, in the middle of the road. Unlike the night before, the skies were clear and the moon was bright, giving them good light to hunt. It was a perfect night for it actually. "Hmm." Vilkas thinks out loud while eyeing the area that lay behind Whiterun.

That area had some good game along with some wolf packs. "Alright, let's go this way." Vilkas pointed in that direction as he started to walk around a small cabbage patch that one of the farmers were growing near Whiterun. Hope quickly follows after Vilkas and watches him start to walk into the open area. Hope stops, standing on the road and not daring to cross over. Vilkas can sense her fear and unease. He stops and turns to her. "What's wrong?" He asks.

She looks at the area behind him and then looks back at him, meeting his eyes. Vilkas watches her rub the back of her leg where her scars were with her other leg. "Back there." She eyes the area behind him again. "That's..." She stops to clear her throat and look down. "That's where I was attacked." She said quietly while keeping her eyes down to the ground.

' _Oh.'_ Vilkas's face sinks into a regretful frown. He too starts to remember like Hope and like her, will never forget. He won't let himself forget, he deserved the dreadful feeling of guilt till the day he died. There's nothing but silence between them in that small moment when they both remember. Vilkas breaks it with clearing his throat and then a sigh.

"We're going passed that." Vilkas finally speaks. "We're not going to be hunting in that area and besides." He stops to watch her look back up at him. "Skjor took care of that wolf, there's no more like it around." When he says the word wolf, Hope makes a face. She furrows her eyebrows and presses her lips together to form a tight line. She still didn't believe it was a wolf and he knew it, because he knew she wasn't stupid. But he couldn't tell her the truth, so he had to call it...him a wolf.

"Listen." He changes the subject and takes a step towards her. "There's no need to be afraid. I'll protect you." He said with crossed arms and a smirk forming on his face. Hope's expression relaxes as she lifts an eyebrow up at him. "I'll even hold your hand if you want." Now he's talking to her like a child with a bigger smirk on his face. She scoffs at him and quickly pushes past him. "I'm not afraid." He hears her mumble as she walks away. He can't help but chuckle as he follows.

They walk through the open area in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable silence, it was just silent because they were hunting. If they were talking the whole time, then they would never catch anything. Vilkas enjoyed it, Hope matched his careful footing and followed his lead, which meant she trusted him. She trusted him to lead them through the open terrain and trusted him to help, as well as protect her in case they came across anything that was too much to handle. Like the troll from last night.

For awhile they only spot elk and foxes in the distance. Vilkas would always let Hope shoot first and every time she did, she would either miss or hit the ground next to her targets, which would always make them run.

Hope lets out a sigh as she pulls an arrow out of the ground. "I just don't get it." Vilkas said while standing behind her with his arms crossed. Hope slightly turns to look at him while putting the arrow back in the bag. "I've watched you hit the target at Jorrvaskr, I watched you hit Aela's shield today with your arrows and hell, I even watched you hit that giant troll's head last night." Hope quickly looks away from him with her eyebrows furrowed. "So I just don't get why you can't hit a simple animal." He said with his hand gestured out towards the spot an elk once stood just a moment ago.

"It's different." Hope mumbles while keeping her eyes away from him. "Hah. How?" Vilkas questioned with hand held out to the side and his head tilted. Hope lets out a sigh as she finally looks back up at Vilkas. "The target I shoot at Jorrvaskr is large and doesn't move. The shield Aela ran with around me today was large and I knew if I didn't hit it a certain number of times, she would run me down or hit me with her shield. The troll, like you said was giant, which means it has a giant head." She puts her index finger to the side of her head.

"So it wasn't hard to miss and I knew if I didn't hit it, it would kill us. Which it almost did anyway, but that doesn't matter now because it still worked out." She sighed as she crossed her arms and looked down at the ground. "Hmm, I see." Vilkas said while scratching at the stubble on his face. "That's why I wanted to go for wolves last night. They would attack and when I'm in danger like that, I always seem to hit my target, whether it be with my sword or my arrow." She said with a shrug.

"Makes sense." Vilkas agrees, but he's not finished. "But it's not right." Hope looks back up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "The only reason you're able to hit your targets when in a fight is because of adrenaline. It's a reflex that your mind forces you to have when your in danger." He explains. "And so far it's worked, but it won't work every time. You can't always rely on danger, especially if you're aiming to be an archer."

"You're actually supposed to rely on stealth and being focused which is the opposite of what you're doing." Now he's just saying his thoughts on the matter out loud and that was beginning to annoy Hope. "Oh blah blah blah! Get to the point!" She yells to cut him off. "Hmph." Vilkas exclaims, rather offended by her interruption. "My point is, you're focusing on the wrong thing for your skills. That's why I've been having you hunt elk instead of wolves. I want you to focus on your stealth, which means how loud you are moving and where you are moving to."

Hope tilts her head, not sure she understands what he means. "Here." Vilkas grabs her shoulders and moves her forward a couple inches so she is standing where the elk once stood. "Stay here and pretend to not know I'm here. Pretend to be an oblivous elk or bandit, or something." Vilkas instructs as he starts to walk away. "How can I pretend you're not here when I know where you are?" Hope asks as she watches him with a lifted eyebrow. "You won't for long!" Vilkas replies as he continues to walk away.

She lets out a sigh as she turns back around and looks out at the open area in front of her. About a mile away she can see a small stream that crossed the land and near that stream she could see a fox taking a drink out of it. _'We should be hunting, not doing this non sense.'_ She thinks to herself as she continues to watch the red fox. _'How loud you are moving and where you are moving to.'_ Vilkas's words ring in her head. _'Being an archer seems to get more difficult the more I get into it.'_ She thinks to herself with a sigh.

How long has she been standing there? Thirty minutes? More like five minutes but it felt like half an hour to Hope. She lets out an impatient sigh. "Hey, Vilkas!" She quickly turns around to where he was walking away and is surprised to see that he is no where in sight. She shouldn't be surprised though, because he did tell her to pretend she didn't know that he was there. _'What is he hoping to prove by doing this? What point is he trying to make?'_ She wonders as she starts to look around.

The longer she's alone the more she's at unease. She starts to clench and unclench her fists as she continues to look around for any sign of Vilkas. But there were none and that made her fear start to kick in. "Hey, Vilkas!" She calls but there is no answer. It was silly to be frightened and worried, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. _'If something had attacked Vilkas I would of heard it, right?'_ She wraps her arms around herself and gives off a small shiver. She's been standing in one spot for too long and Skyrim's chilly air was starting to get to her.

A couple more minutes start to pass by and she can feel panic begin to rise in her. She tries to keep her cool and to put her worrisome thoughts away, but it was difficult. "Okay Vilkas! I get it!" She yells loudly while darting her eyes around. "You can come back now!" She yells louder as she starts to shiver more and she can't tell if it was from the cold or the fear inside her.

"Vilkas!" She yells louder as she completely turns around to face the open area behind her. She looks down towards the direction that Vilkas walked and was looking for any place he could possibly be hiding in. She sees none, all she can see is land. _'Okay, this has gone on far too long.'_

Suddenly, a large hand grips Hope's shoulder and then soon she's gasping for air as she just got the air knocked out of her from being slammed down to the ground. Her reflexes kick in and she immediately starts to fight, but something cold and sharp being pressed down on her neck forces her to stop. Now her hands are being held above her head with another strong grip, strong and large enough to hold both of her hands down together.

Her eyes are shut, they've been shut since she's been taken down to the ground. Her body reacted so fast that she didn't even think to open her eyes and now she's too afraid to. But when she hears a familiar chuckle come from above her, she furrows her eyebrows and quickly opens her eyes. It was Vilkas, he was hovering over her with one hand holding her hands still and the other holding a dagger to her throat, and had one big smirk on his face.

"That was a little too easy, I don't think Aela's training you right." He said with a chuckle at the end. He couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face. "Vilkas!" She yells angrily as she starts to squirm underneath him. "Get off me!" She yells again. "Huh, never had a woman say that to me before while being on top." He said with an even bigger smirk.

Hope's eyes widen as a visible blush forms on her face. "Huh?!" She exclaimed in embarrassment and in shock. "That's so dirty! Get off!" Her voice squeaks loudly and Vilkas laughs. He really laughs and that's something he hasn't done in a long time. He lets go of her arms and releases the blade from her neck, but he's laughing so hard all he can do to get off her is roll to his back on the ground next to her.

Hope quickly sits up and turns her head to glare at him while rubbing her wrist. He has an arm laying over his eyes and a hand gripping his stomach as he continues to laugh. She lets out a loud, irritated puff of air as she gets to her feet. "That wasn't funny Vilkas!" She said with a stomp from her foot.

Now Vilkas just lays there, catching his breath from laughing so much and so hard. "I don't know." He said with another laugh. "It was pretty funny to me." He chuckled as he sits up from the ground. Hope watches leaves and grass fall from the back of his hair as he looks at her with an amused smile on his face. "Hmph." She exclaims annoyed while looking away from him with her arms crossed.

Vilkas lets out a satisfied sigh as he gets back up to his feet. He dusts himself off and then picks up Hope's bow and arrows. "Here." He held them out to her. Hope turns and looks at them with wide, unbelieving eyes. "How? When?" She furrows her eyebrows as she takes them from him. "I disarmed you before I took you down." He said rather proudly. Hope looks back up at him, keeping her eyebrows furrowed.

"That's one of the advantages of stealth. Being able to disarm your enemy before they know what hits them." Vilkas said with grin. "It's a very important skill to have, especially if you're wanting to be an archer." Vilkas explained while crossing his arms. "If it's an important skill for archers then why can you do it so well? You wear heavy armor and use a two handed blade." Hope points out.

"Every type of warrior should know several types of skills, skills other than weapons." He starts to explain. "Just because I use a two handed blade doesn't mean I like to just charge in and swing in every direction. That's more of Torvrar's style."

"I like to try and sneak around the enemy so I can get a good count of how many there are in a room or area. That's something you should like to do as well. It's smart and it lets you pick the best targets to take out first or attack first." He explains. _'One target at a time.'_ Aela's words echoe in her mind when Vilkas said that. Hope stares at him for a moment and then looks down at the ground thinking. _'He's right, he's been right about everything.'_

Vilkas snaps her out of it with a hard pat to the back. She quickly looks up at him. "Come on, let's go find some more elk and I'll show you how it's done." He said with a nudge of his head. Hope nods as she starts to follow him while placing her bow and arrows back in their place on her back.

It takes Vilkas and Hope a little while to find anything, they didn't even see a fox run by. For a while Vilkas was worried that they had scared off all of the animals in the area but soon after that worry, they came a cross two grazing elks. Vilkas quickly gets low to the ground and instructs Hope to do the same.

"I want you to look around the area carefully and tell me what you see." Vilkas whispered. Hope slowly looked around, eyeing the area around them as much as she could. "I see flat land and a few trees." She whispered back. Vilkas lets out a sigh as he shakes his head. "What?" Hope questioned with furrowed eyebrows. "You're not really looking, you're not really seeing." Vilkas motioned two fingers towards his eyes. "Let me tell you what I see." He slowly scoots closer to Hope and places a hand on her back

"I see shadows, I see rocks, and I see a pond." He points at all of those things with his finger. Hope furrows her eyebrows as she tries to seem them to. She can see the shadows, and she can see the pond but she can't see any rocks. "Where are seeing rocks?" She asks. "You're looking for the wrong kind." Vilkas tells her. "What kind of rock is the wrong kind?" She asks more confused than she was before.

"You're looking for large rocks to hide behind, right" He asks. She nods. "I'm not looking at those because I know there are none. I'm looking at the ones laying beside the pond, the small ones." Vilkas points again at the pond that lay just a few feet away from the elk. Hope looks over and can see a small shimmer of light reflect off the small rocks that came from the bright moon. She then slowly moves her eyes across the pond on the far side of it and can see tall grass along with some shadows behind it. Without another word, Hope starts to slowly and quietly make her way over to the tall grass. Vilkas lets her and watches closely.

It takes a good couple of minutes for Hope to reach the pond and the tall grass, but it was worth it because the elk had no idea she was there and she was close. So close that she could make out the markings on their coats. Hope slowly sits up and examines her targets. One had its bottom facing her and the other had its whole side to her with its head down to chew on the grass.

The one with its side to her was the easiest target and it was closer to her, so she knew she'd be able to hit it. Hope readies an arrow and slowly pulls it back and aims it for that elk, but she starts to think. _'The moment I hit it with my arrow, the other one will take off running.'_ She slowly lowers her bow back down and takes the arrow off the string. _'Does that matter though? I only need to hit one..'_ She starts to think again but she knows that's wrong. If these elk were bandits or wolves, she would need to hit both of them.

She knows that they are neither one of those things, but she needs to treat them like they are. _'You need to take your training seriously. You need to act like your life is on the line.'_ Aela's words come to her again. She lets out a quiet sigh as she pinches the bridge of her nose. _'I hate it when they're right.'_ But she shouldn't hate it. Because they are trained warriors, they are Companions who have seen more blood shed and fights than anyone she's ever known. Even Vilkas. He was annoying, but he always knew what he was talking about and she needed to listen.

"Okay.." She quietly sighs to herself as she looks back up over the grass at the elk on the other side of the small pond. She eyes the small rocks on the other side of the pond and starts to see why Vilkas pointed them out. She could throw one to distract one of the elk, but they were too far and too close to her targets. If she tried to go over there they would see her and run, but she knows what she needs to do now, or try to do anyways.

This was a pond, it had to have more rocks around. Hope starts to look around carefully through the grass and smiles when she finds one, but only one. She can't seem to find anymore near her, so she needed to make this one count. She grabs the rock and holds it tightly in her fist as she looks back up at her targets. Neither one of them has moved.

She moves her eyes to the one that was facing her more than the other. She decides that one would be the one to distract and the other one would be the one to take out first. _'Okay, I can do this.'_ She tells herself, trying to boost her confidence and make her nerves calm down. They were just elk but it was still exciting.

Hope slowly moves to the left of the grass while keeping her eyes on the nearest elk. She then quickly throws the rock across the small pond and over the elk. It lands just a few inches away from it and it makes the elk jump and quickly lift its head. The other one lifts its head as well but it doesn't move, it just watches with its ears twitching in all kinds of directions.

 _'Of course that one would hear it to.'_ Hope clenches her jaw as starts to feel regret her decision, but it's too late now and she needs to make it work. The elk closest to the rock starts to slowly and carefully walk in the direction it landed. It took small steps and had its head stretched forward trying to catch the scent of whatever it was. The other one watched and waited for a signal to run.

 _'Now, I have to do it now!'_ Hope quietly but quickly makes her way around the pond with an arrow being pulled back. She keeps her distance from the pond so not to alert the elk and when she's close enough to the one standing still, she shoots. The arrow flies and lands right in the elks skull. She readies another arrow and has it pulled back before the first elk hits the ground. The second one quickly turns its head to her but before it can even attempt to escape, an arrow lands right between its eyes.

She stands there with wide eyes as the second elk hits the ground hard. She slowly lowers her bow down and shifts her eyes between the two dead elk in front of her, still not believing that she just did that. A small smile crept across her face as her heart thumps hard against her chest from the excitement.

She can hear Vilkas run over to her. "I did it!" She yells with her arms shooting up in the air, full of excitement. Vilkas smiles at her and then looks down at the two dead elk. "Good job, I'm surprised you actually pulled that off." He admitted while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I'm just good." Hope said with a shrug and a smirk. "Alright, now you're just getting a big head." Vilkas chuckled as he started to pull the arrows out of the elk's head.

"I meant it though." He looks back up at her and holds the arrows out to her. "Good job." He said with a smile. Hope takes the arrows out of his hand and looks at the blood covered tips, she then looks back up at him with her own smile. A smile that made Vilkas's heart skip a beat. He stares at her with widened eyes and warmth spreading through out his body.

Vilkas quickly looks away and clears his throat. "Come on, let's get these back to Jorrvaskr. I'm sure Tilma will be able to make something good out of them." Vilkas said as he started to tie their hooves together with rope he always carried. "Huh? But I want to keep hunting." Hope protested like Vilkas knew she would.

"I think we've done enough for one night." Vilkas said while looking back up at her. She had a small pout on her face. He wanted to give in when he saw it, but he knew it was getting late and the smell of fresh blood always made the wolf inside him restless. He couldn't take any chances. "It's getting late and I'm sure Aela has more training for you to do tomorrow." Vilkas said while making his way over to the other elk.

Hope sighs at the thought of that. She was tired of training. "Don't worry though, I'll take you out hunting again soon." He assured her with a smile but now something else was on Hope's mind. When she didn't respond Vilkas looked up at her and saw her look down with what looked like something on her mind. "Can I ask you something?" She finally speaks while looking back at him.

Vilkas nods. "Do you think I'm ready to take on small jobs?" She asks with hopeful eyes. Vilkas lets out a sigh and looks back down at the elk, he knows what she wants to hear but he doesn't know if his answer is going to satisfy her. He stands back up straight and rubs the back of his neck while looking away.

She was getting better and learning faster but he just didn't know. He lowers his hand down and looks back at her, she still had hopeful eyes staring at him. "Maybe." He finally answers. A big smile quickly spreads on Hope's face. "Really?!" She asks excitingly. "I said maybe." Vilkas pointed a finger at her but that didn't make her excitement go away. "Let me talk to Kodlak tomorrow and we'll see what he says." He said with a small smile. "Now grab one of the ropes on the elk and help me drag them back." Hope nods and quickly does so.

They found their way back to the road and were now walking down it with the elks dragging behind them. Vilkas was surprised how well Hope was able to drag the elk, she chose the smaller one of course, but it still had to be heavy. Vilkas eyed the flexing muscles in Hope's arms and was impressed. All of her hard work was starting to pay off. He looked back up at her face and saw beads of sweat running down from her forehead and into her shirt.

He followed one drop with his eyes. He watched it fall from top of her forehead and watched it slide down to the bottom her jaw. It stopped at the drop off from her jaw for a small moment before falling and landing on her chest. Vilkas watched it slowly slide down and then curve to the middle of her chest, soon disappearing and falling down to what he assumed was the middle of her breasts.

The image of it made Vilkas's jaw tighten, he forced himself to look away before something else came to his mind. Now he started to wonder about something. _'Never heard a woman say that to me before while being on top.'_ His own words come to his mind as does the look on Hope's face when he had said them. She was so embarrassed and shocked by those words, he can't help but wonder...

"Hey." Vilkas speaks, breaking the silence between them. Hope turns her head and looks at him. "You ever been with a man before?" He asks that rather too casually. Hope's eyes widen and a very visable blush appears on her cheeks. "Huh?!" She's so shocked by that question she drops the rope she was holding. She comes to a quick stop and completely turn towards Vilkas.

"What do you mean!?" She asks rather hysterically. Vilkas stops as well and holds a hand up in his defense. "Calm down." He tells her with a chuckle, he can't help but find her reaction funny. "I'm just wondering if you've ever been with someone, like relationship wise." He explains clearly. "Oh." Hope starts to relax a bit but then lifts an eyebrow at him. "Why? You interested?"

Vilkas quickly scoffs and looks away. "I already told you that you're not my type." He said while crossing his arms. "I'm just curious is all." He said with a small shrug. "Right." She rolled her eyes but then started to really think about it. She's not sure why, but Erik's face comes to her mind. She frowns at the image, but not in anger. More like guilt. She's been training so much, she hasn't really spent anytime thinking about him like she did her family.

It was strange that he was the first thing to come to her mind, they always stayed close friends but never went past that and now she's not sure what they are, especially after... She tightly shuts her eyes to make that painful memory go away, there was nothing there but the feeling of betrayal and she didn't want that feeling to show every time she thought of him.

"No." Hope finally answer as she opens her eyes. Vilkas looked back at her surprised. She was an attractive young woman, has there really been no man to try and court her? _'Good.'_ An inner voice speaks with in him but he quickly pushes it away. He pushes such thoughts like that away, he had to right to think like that.

He clears his throat while shifting his weight to the side and looks Hope up and down. She furrows her eyebrows at him. "So..." He clears his throat again while looking back up to her face. "Does that mean...You've never..." He waves his finger up and down, motioning out her whole body. Hope's eyes widened as the blush from before reappears on her face. "Huh!?" Her voice squeaked again. Vilkas laughs making Hope's embarrassed features turn into angry ones. "You're so dumb!" She yells at him in a high pitched voice and then storms off down the road.

"Hey!" Vilkas calls after her with another laugh. "You forgot the elk!" He motions a hand out to the elk she dropped. "Carry it yourself!" He hears her yell to him. She was a good distance away now and was practically running. Vilkas lets out satisfied sigh as he picks up the rope attached to the elks hooves and pulls it over his shoulder. "You sure do know how to chase em off Vilkas." He whispers to himself with another chuckle. Now he has to drag two large elk home by himself thanks to him, but it was worth it. The amusing, innocent, shocked look on Hope's face was definetly worth it.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day Vilkas kept his promise to Hope and spoke to Kodlak. "So, you think our newcomer is ready for work?" Kodlak was sitting in his usual chair with his arms crossed and back relaxed. Vilkas nods in response, he was sitting in another chair across from Kodlak that sat on the opposite side of a table. Kodlak stares at Vilkas for a moment and then lets out a chuckle.

Vilkas furrows his eyebrows. "What?" He questions. "You've really taken a shine to our lady Hope, haven't you." Kodlak's mustache curved upwards, following the smirk growing on his face. Vilkas scoffs and quickly looks away. "I don't know what you're talking about." Vilkas said with his arms crossed. "I've just noticed her progress is all and I think that she's ready to move past training."

"Sure." Kodlak said while sitting back in his chair. He lets out a sigh as he keeps his arms crossed. Vilkas turns his head and looks at him. "I don't disagree with you that she has progressed well, but I worry what can happen if we rush things..." He admitted with a hand reaching to the back of his neck to rub it. "Ria started doing jobs not that long after she joined." Vilkas pointed out. "But Ria was already some-what trained. Hope had no training at all when she joined us." Kodlak pointed out as well.

Vilkas chews on the corner of his bottom lip as he continues to look at Kodlak. He wants to argue, but knows he is not wrong. "It's been nearly a month now though. I say give her a small job and see how she does." He attempts to pursue.

Kodlak lets out another sigh as he lowers his hand back down into his lap. He turns his head and looks at Vilkas for a moment, thinking to himself. Kodlak then shifts his eyes away from Vilkas and over to the closed door that hid his room. He looked like he was just staring at the door when really he was looking through it at his night stand next to his bed that had his journal on top. _'Perhaps it is time...'_

"Alright." Kodlak finally gives in. A small smile crept on Vilkas's face and he couldn't help but let it show. Kodlak then looks back at Vilkas with a smile of his own. "Farkas can assign her a job. He usually deals with the easier ones, let him know to keep an eye out for something that Hope can handle. Until then, she continues with her training." He said with a nod.

Vilkas nods back and then quickly gets up to his feet. "Hold a moment boy." Kodlak spoke up making Vilkas stop. He slightly turns his head and looks at Kodlak over his shoulder. "Not a word to Hope about this, not till Farkas finds something." Kodlak said with a finger pointed at Vilkas. He scoffs and turns back around to leave. "I'm not going to talk to her unless I have to..." He mumbles while walking out the door. Kodlak can only chuckles as he watches him leave.

A couple days go by and in those couple of days, Hope feels like the training has become more intense than before. Aela barely left any room for mistakes and if Hope did make a mistake, it turned out fatal. "Ah!" Hope yelled out in pain. She was on the ground and on her knees with one hand covering a fresh wound on her side.

Aela had just cut her with her sword. "You're supposed block whelp! Not lean towards my sword!" Aela yells with her blade pointed at Hope. Hope slowly takes her hand off her wound, her eyes widen when she sees blood smeared on the palm of her hand. "This is supposed to be training! Not a fight to the death!" Hope yelled back while putting her hand back onto her wound.

"You should treat everything like it's to the death! Have you learned nothing!?" Aela continues to scold. Hope shifts her eyes away from Aela and mimics her like a child would. Aela scoffs at her and then turns her back to walk away from her just a few feet. "Get back up to your feet whelp. We're going another round!" She commanded with her sword ready.

 _'Seriously!'_ She wants to shout, but she doesn't. She bites her tongue and does what she is told. Hope winces when she gets back up to her feet with her sword in hand. "Come on, my dead mother can move faster than you!" Aela yells. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at her in shock. _'What a terrible thing to say...and to say it so casually...'_ Hope thinks to herself while continuing to stare at Aela with furrowed eyebrows.

"Oh don't look at me like that." Aela waves off the shocked look Hope is giving her. Then with out warning, Aela charges right for her with her sword ready to swing. Hope's eyes widen as she jumps back to avoid Aela's swinging blade.

When Hope moved out of the way, she had to raise her arms up for balance and in doing that made her wound open. Aela saw that opening and quickly slapped the fresh wound hard. "Ah!" Hope yells in pain. While she's distracted with that, Aela quickly swings a leg out under Hope and quickly takes her down to the ground, again.

The few Companions watching outside cringe when they hear a loud thud come from Hope's body hitting the ground. "You left your wound right open whelp! Never expose your weakness to the enemy!" Aela scolds loudly. Hope groans as she lays on her back with her hand covering the wound again.

Aela sighs as she stares down at Hope's pathetic, injured body. "Alright, I guess we should call it a day." She sighs as she sheaths her sword. "Come on, let's treat that wound." She said while offering a hand out to Hope. She slowly sits up and takes Aela's hand but instead of standing like Aela thought, Hope pulls her down towards her and then head-butts her hard.

It was so hard that Aela's head flew back and she could do nothing but fall to the ground beside Hope. She slowly sits up with her hand over her nose, she can feel blood trailing down from it. "Left yourself open _**whelp**_." Hope said with her best Aela impression as she slowly got up to her feet. She's hunched over as she slowly and painfully walks away from Aela, leaving her on the ground. " _ **Have you learned nothing?**_ " Hope continues to impersonate Aela with an angry scowl on her face.

Aela can only chuckle as she watches Hope enter Jorrvaskr. She holds her hand out and looks down at the blood that has collected in her palm. _'Perhaps she is ready...'_ She thinks to herself with a smile on her face.

When Hope walks in, Ria is right behind her. She was one of the Companions that were sitting outside watching. "You should sit! You're bleeding a lot." She points out with her eyes glued to Hope's blood soaked shirt. "I'm fine." Hope mumbles as she makes her way to the table. "Why didn't you wear your armor?" Ria asks with her eyebrows knit together. "Because I don't like it." Hope said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Ria asks again. Hope lets out a tired and frustrated sigh as she slowly takes a seat. "It's too heavy and gets in the way of my training." She explained with a wince on her face. "If you wore your armor you wouldn't of gotten hurt." It wasn't Ria that replied. It was Vilkas. He was sitting in the chair next to the one Hope had sat in and he could smell her blood the moment she stepped into the building.

Another scowl takes place on Hope's face as she keeps her eyes away from Vilkas. "Nobody asked you." She said with venom in her voice. Vilkas scoffs as he puts his mug down on the table. "What crawled into your undergarments and died?" He said in response to her hateful reply. Hope just sat there in silence with the same scowl on her face. Vilkas turns his head and is quite surprised when he sees the shape she is in.

She's sweaty, dirty, and bloody. No wonder she was in such a foul mood. Vilkas shifts his eyes down to the bleeding wound on Hope's side and winces from how much blood was seeping from it. _'A little rough today, huh Aela?'_ Vilkas thought to himself with his own anger boiling inside. It shouldn't of bothered him so much, every one went through training like that when they joined the Companions, but for some reason, seeing Hope in that condition made him rage inside.

He forces himself to look away from her wound and back up to her face. He can see a knot swell up in the furrow of her brow along with a small smear of blood. _'Guess she got some pay back.'_ He didn't need to be a healer to know that was from head-butting someone and he knew it wasn't her blood that was smeared. He could smell that it belonged to Aela.

"What?" Hope's angry voice knocks him out of his thoughts. He quickly focuses on her and sees that at some point, she's turned her head to finally look at him. She had her eyebrows furrowed and a grumpy frown on her face. Vilkas raises an eyebrow at her and shifts his eyes back down to her open wound. "You're getting blood everywhere, go get your wound covered before you make a mess." He said while moving his eyes away from her completely.

"See! You're bleeding to death!" Ria speaks up again and rather hysterically too. Hope exclaims her irritation with a loud groan. "Fine." She said through clenched teeth. Vilkas kept his head forward but shifted his eyes to the corners so he could secretly watch Hope. He noticed the color fading from her normally flushed face, but also noticed her attitude.

She always had an attitude with him though, so it didn't surprise him there. But to see her give Ria a horrible attitude did surprise him, she must of been in a fouler mood than he guessed. _'Maybe I should try and talk to her about it?'_ Vilkas wondered, but what would be the point? The only result he could see from that was her trying to either head-butt him like Aela, or just a pointless argument that would break out between them. _'I'm sure she's fine.'_ He decided while taking a drink of his mead.

His ears perked when he heard Hope inhale sharply as she got up to her feet. She had to balance herself with one hand gripping the end of the table and the other gripping her side. She was trying to keep it from bleeding, but blood just ran through her fingers. "Damn!" A loud, obnoxiousness voice enters the room that makes everyone cringe. It was Torvrar.

"You look like shit!" He yelled with a loud laugh. Hope only groans in response as she starts to make her way for the stairs. Ria was right behind her in case she fell or passed out. Hope's shoulder brushes his as she passed him, she doesn't even look his way. She wasn't in the mood for his comments. Torvrar furrows his eyebrows down and turns his head to watch her walk away. "Rude..." He mumbled as he turns back around and heads for the table.

When they reach the stairs, Hope has to hold onto Ria's shoulder to be able to make it down them. Not only has she lost a good amount of blood, but she was also very tired. Aela woke her up before the sun even peeked over the mountains to start training and barely let her have a lunch break. If you call a quick drink of water and bite of bread a lunch break.

Ria guides Hope into their quarters and helps her sit down on her bed. "Alright, stay here and I'll go fetch some towels and water!" Ria tells her. Hope nods and then watches her hurriedly leave the room. Once Ria is out of the room, Hope decides to let out a low, deep sigh. A sigh filled with disappointment. Disappointment that she's been feeling for a couple of days now.

The next day after their hunting trip, Hope asked Vilkas if he had asked Kodlak about her starting some work. The answer he gave her made her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. "He said it would be best if you continue your training." Is what Vilkas had told her before pushing past her and not bothering to apologize for nearly knocking her over. _'For a month now, all I've doing is training...'_ She thinks to herself with her eyes to the ground and a frown on her face. _'Did he even try to convince him?'_ She starts to wonder as she thinks back on Vilkas. _'Probably not...stupid idiot...'_ Now a scowl takes place on her face. She knew it wasn't right to be angry at Vilkas for it, but she had to be angry at someone and he was usually easy to be angry at. So, she was angry at him.

She could hear footsteps approaching the sleeping quarters and expected to see Ria fly through the door but instead, it was Farkas who poked his head in. He looked around and then stopped his eyes on Hope. She lifted an eyebrow at him waiting for an explanation to why he was staring at her. His eyes immediately moved to the bleeding wound on her side. "You okay?" He asks as he steps into the room and approaches her.

Hope only nods in response as she continues to wait for his explanation. She had a short fuse with everyone that night. Farkas lifts an eyebrow as he continues to stare at it. "Aela do that to you while training?" He asks. Hope nods again. "Hmm.." He hums while thinking to himself. Hope lets out a sigh that catches his attention. "What do you want?" She asks impatiently.

Farkas now raises an eyebrow at her attitude and she just stares at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "How bad does that wound hurt?" He asks. Hope now lifts an eyebrow at him. "Not as bad as it looks." She replies. "How do you feel about doing a job tomorrow?" He asks.

Hope's eyes widen as her eyebrows shoot up. "A job?" She asks surprised. Farkas nods. "Unless you don't think you can handle it." He said with a small smirk. "I can han-" Hope's excited sentence is cut off when she quickly stands to her feet and a sharp pain shoots up her side. She quickly grabs her side and loses her balance. Farkas quickly steps forward and catches her in his arms. "You okay?!" He asks with a worried look on his face. "Yeah, I think I just stood up too fast." Hope said in a weak chuckle.

"Why do I have to do it." Vilkas grumbles as he stare down into his half-empty mug. "Because I know you want to." Aela chuckled. Vilkas groaned loudly and then quickly gulped down the rest of his mead. "Fine!" He gives in quicker than Aela thought he would. "Only because I know you won't leave me alone till I do." He claimed while getting up from his chair. He wobbled a little due to the few mugs of mead he had a while ago, but he wasn't completely drunk. Just had a good buzz going.

He loudly and clumsily makes his way down the stairs. Aela had asked him to check on Hope, turns out she felt bad about the wound she gave her and wanted to make sure she was okay. But instead of doing it herself, she thought it would be funny if Vilkas did it. He didn't care, he acted like it was a bother when really he wanted to make sure she was okay too. He just didn't have an excuse until now.

When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he hears loud movement come from the sleeping quarters as well as Farkas and Hope's voices speaking to each other. _'Huh?'_ Vilkas furrows his eyebrows as he looks to the opening to the door. He couldn't see them through it which meant if he wanted to see them, he had to actually go into the room. He hears Hope speak again as he makes his way over and this time he picks it up.

"You have really strong arms Farkas." He hears Hope giggle weakly. The first thought in his head should be that her weak giggle was due to being injured, but in his head it was because of...something else. His eyes widen as he comes to a quick stop, just a few inches away from the opening to the room. "Yeah?" He now hears Farkas chuckle back, and it sounded husky.

With Vilkas's buzzed mind quickly diving into the gutter, he charges into the room at full speed. "Hey!" His yell is so loud that he makes Hope yelp and Farkas nearly jump out of his skin. They both quickly look at him with eyes so wide that their eyeballs just might fall out. Vilkas just stands there staring at them both at first with a mean glare that could burn them alive, but shortly after bursting into the room, that mean glare turns into confusion.

Hope is leaning into Farkas's arms but not into an embrace. She was holding herself up with her hands planted on his lower arms. Remembering back to just a moment ago, Vilkas thinks about the loud movement he heard when he stepped off the stairs. Vilkas can feel the temperature in his face increase as realization starts to slowly sink in. It was clear to him now that Hope had just simply fallen from being weak and Farkas had caught her.

"..." Silence fills the room as the three Companions just stare at each other. He has to say something, he needs to explain why he rushed in like he did but he can't tell them to the truth. "..." He doesn't know what to say. They just continue to stare at each other in complete silence.

Rushing footsteps is heard down the hall. "Is everything okay!?" It was Ria's voice, she was so worried she spoke before she even entered the room and when she did enter the room she was in such a frenzy that she didn't see Vilkas standing completely in the way. She rushed in with a bowl of water and hit the back of Vilkas hard, the impact causes the bowl to flip forward, completely soaking Vilkas in the process.

Ria stumbles backwards a couple steps but is able to regain herself. She quickly looks up and her eyes widen when she sees what she has done. The back of Vilkas was completely soaked from top to bottom. She watches water drip from the bottom of his pants. Ria gasps and covers her mouth at the same time.

"Pfft." Farkas quickly puts a hand over Hope's mouth to keep her laughter from spilling out. With out saying a word, Vilkas slowly turns and leaves the room with out giving any of them a single glance. They all follow him with their eyes, including Ria. When she finally finds the nerve to speak Vilkas is already walking into his room. "I'm sorry!" She shouts to him and then winces when she hears his door slam shut.

Farkas clears his throat while removing his hand from Hope's mouth. "So..." He turns his head back to her. "Wanna take the job?" He asks. Hope stares at him for a moment and then nods with a big smile forming on her face. "Great, I'll give you the details tomorrow. For now, get your wound cleaned up and get some rest." Farkas gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and then left the room.

Ria watched him while already being on the floor cleaning up the mess she made. "Job?" She asks looking up at Hope. Hope nods and slowly sits back down onto the bed with the same smile on her face. "But you're injured, how can you take on a job?" Ria asks with a worried look. "I'm fine, I can do it." Hope said while kicking her feet back and forth. "Are you sure?" Ria asks again worried. "I'm completely sure!" Hope replied cheerfully as she stretched her arms in the air and laid back onto the bed.

She winced from the motion but tried to ignore it. "I'm sure my wound will be mostly healed tomorrow." She said with an even bigger smile on her face. "Well, alright." Ria sighs as she gets back up to her feet. "I need to get more water, I'll be right back." She tells Hope while leaving the room with a now empty bowl in her hands.

Hope doesn't reply, she just lays there on the bed staring at the ceiling with a smile on her face. Her mind immediately went to tomorrow, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of job she'll get and if it will take her far from Whiterun. She couldn't wait and didn't know how she was going to sleep that night.

Vilkas hears a loud knock on his door as he changed out of his wet cloths. He doesn't reply, hoping whoever it is will go away, but they don't. Just as he pulls on a clean pair of cloth pants, Farkas opens the door and lets himself in. Vilkas doesn't need to look behind him to know it was his brother.

He just keeps his back to him as he digs through his drawers for a clean shirt. Farkas lets the door shut behind him as he stands there with his arms crossed. Vilkas finally lets out a sigh as he turn around to face his brother. "What?" He asks with his eyebrows furrowed. "I should be asking you that." Farkas said with a small tilt to his head. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows more.

"Why did you rush in back there like someone was-" Farkas cuts himself off as it occurs to him. A smirk slowly takes form on his face. Vilkas scowls at his brother and quickly turns back around to continue to dig through his drawers. "You thought-" "Shut it." Vilkas cuts him off.

Laughter spills from Farkas which makes Vilkas glare at him from over his shoulder. "Please, if I wanted to do that with her I would of been more respectful and taken her to my room." He said with a grin. A deeper glare forms on Vilkas's face. "I've been told that my bed is a good spot for it." Farkas said rather proudly. "Alright that's enough!" Vilkas snaps which makes Farkas grin more.

He watches Vilkas slam his drawers shut and then heatedly plop down onto his bed. Farkas chuckles as he shifts his weight to he side a bit. "Ah brother." He said with an amused sigh. Vilkas only growls as he ruffles the back of his hair to attempt to dry it off. "You should just admit you're jealous, be easier that way." He said with a shrug. "I have nothing to be jealous of." Vilkas replied with his eyes shifting away from Farkas.

Farkas lets out another sigh while uncrossing his arms. "Anyways." He changes the subject before totally pushing Vilkas over the edge. "I thought you should know that I've given Hope her first job." He said. Vilkas's eyes snap back to Farkas. "You did? But she's injured." He said with his eyebrows furrowed. "She said it wasn't as bad as it looked." Farkas said with a shrug.

"I trust her judgment on the decision and if she gets hurt because of that injury, then it will be her own fault." Farkas said. Vilkas stared at his brother for a moment and then looked down with a nod. "What kind of job is it?" Vilkas asks as he looks back up. "Just someone needing a good punch." Farkas replied. Vilkas feels a wave of relief wash over him, he should've known that was the kind of job Farkas would give her. That was the kind of job they always gave whelps who were no longer needing training.

It was Skjor's idea actually, to give those jobs to whelps as their first job because no body wanted to do it and they didn't get them enough to make everybody do it. "Think she can handle it?" Farkas asks. "Oh yeah." Vilkas replied with a chuckle. "If it's giving somebody a good punch who deserves it, she can do it." He said with a half smile on his face.

"I thought so too." Farkas said with his own chuckle. "I've seen her lose her temper and take it out on you, Aela, AND Skjor." He said with another chuckle, enjoying the memories. "It's only a matter of time before she takes that temper out on you." Vilkas said with a nudge of his head in Farkas's direction. "Nah." Farkas waved it off. "I have really strong arms. Remember?" Farkas said with a quick flex from one of his arms.

Vilkas's eyebrows quickly furrow while Farkas smirks. He lets out an amused and satisfied sigh as he turns to leave the room. "I'm going to go to the tavern for a drink, join me when you're dressed." Farkas said with a wave from his hand when he leaves. Vilkas watches the door shut and stares at it for a long moment. _'Hope's first job...'_ He starts to remember the hopeful look in her eyes when she had asked him his opinion on the matter just a couple of days ago.

Vilkas runs a hand through his hair as he leans down with an elbow resting on his knee. _'Should probably have someone follow her tomorrow just to make sure it goes okay...'_


	16. Chapter 16

**So for some reason, I kept getting writers block with this chapter so I hope it's okay and not too bad ^.^". Lucky for you readers I know exactly what I'm going to write for my next chapter so hopefully it won't take me too long! Enjoy!**

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The next morning came rather slowly, Hope was so excited and her mind was filled with so many things that she couldn't bring herself to sleep. "Ouch!" Hope hissed. Ria was helping her re-bandage the wound on her side. "Sorry!" She quickly apologized. Hope watches with her head tilted as she holds up that side of her shirt.

"How does it look?" She asked. Ria doesn't reply, she just stares at it with her lips pressed together in a tight line. "Ria?" Hope furrows her eyebrows down. "It's healed but it looks swollen..." Ria finally answered. "I don't think you should do that job today." She said while placing the new bandage over the slightly infected wound.

"Oh I'm sure it's not that bad." Hope quickly dismisses Ria's concern while pulling her shirt back down. Ria lets out a sigh knowing that it would be useless to try and argue. Hope has that look in her eyes, the look to where she has her mind set on something and nobody can talk her out of it. "Well, at last wear your armor today." Ria asked as she started gathering the old bandages.

Hope let out a distasteful groan at the thought of her armor. "You don't know what you're going to be doing. It'd be stupid not to wear your armor." Now Ria was lecturing her. Hope groans again but she knows Ria is right. "Fine, I'll wear the stupid armor..." She mumbles as she walks over to the drawers she keeps her cloths in.

"You know if you really don't like that kind of armor, you can always have Eorlund forge you some new armor." Ria said. "Really?" Hope asked while looking at her from over her shoulder. Ria nodded with a smile on her face. "After awhile, I decided that I didn't like the armor I started out with either. So, once I fully became a Companion, I drew out the armor I wanted and had Eorlund make it for me." She explained with a shrug.

A small smile crept on Hope's face as she really started to think about it. "I had to pay for it mind you, but it was worth it." Ria said with nod and a smile on her face. _'I'm going to have to get started on that when I get back.'_ Hope thinks to herself with ideas already flooding her mind.

Ria leaves the room as Hope starts to put her armor on. She winces when she lifts her arms up through the chain male of the armor. It doesn't take her long to put all the pieces on, except for the iron chest piece, which always gives her trouble. She tries to buckle the straps around her back, but it was impossible to do without help.

She hears approaching footsteps coming from down the hall. _'Oh good, it must be Ria coming back.'_ She thinks to herself with a glad smile on her face. She holds the iron chest piece still against her as she turns to face the door, expecting Ria to walk in at any moment.

Instead of being Ria, it was Farkas who walked in. He immediately turned to Hope, his eyes widen seeing she is in the process of getting dressed. He quickly turns his back to her and clears his throat. "Sorry." He apologizes while shifting around uncomfortably. Hope tilts her head at him and then looks down at herself.

She was covered, her chain male covered her from neck down, but it did hug her body quite tightly, leaving little to the imagination. "It's okay Farkas." She chuckles while looking back up at him. "I'm dressed." She tells him and she can see his shoulders relax with relief. "Oh, okay." He sighs in relief as he turns back around. Not that he would of complained if she wasn't though, unlike his brother, he wasn't afraid to admit he found her attractive.

"I actually do need help putting this chest piece on though, if you don't mind." She said while turning her back to him so he can see the unbuckled straps. "Oh, sure." He said as he walked to her and started buckling the straps together. While doing so, Farkas let his eyes trail down the back of her body. Even from behind she was an impressive view.

He admired the way her waist curved down into a round and tight rump. His were beginning to wonder else where, so he had to force himself to look away from her before he got carried away and started to undress her. "There we go." Farkas said while taking his hands away and stepping back.

Hope re-gusted the chest-piece and then turned around with a smile on her face. "So, about the job." She said while placing her hands behind her back. Farkas could see her excitement filling her eyes and couldn't help but smile. "It's a small job, nothing too overwhelming." He said while crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's in a town called Riverwood, you know it?" He asked. "I've heard about it, but I've never been there." Hope replied. "It's a few miles, East from Whiterun. There are signs on the road pointing in its direction if you have trouble." He explains and Hope nods, understanding. "What's the job." She asks. "Someone's causing trouble, and they've asked us to deal with it."

"What kind of trouble?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Typical stuff, drunken brawls, making trouble with somebody's daughter. Things like that, and this guy we've been asked to take care of is known for this typical kind of stuff." He explained. "Who's the guy?" Hope asked keeping her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know his name, but I've run into him before." Farkas sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I've chased him off from a tavern once because he wouldn't stop trying to touch the waitress." Farkas let out another sigh. He started to second guess on whether to send Hope on this job or not. Maybe he should send a different Companion out on this job, like Torvrar or Athis maybe. Hope was a beautiful woman and he knew if this guy got the upper-hand on her, he wouldn't think twice on taking advantage of her.

The thought of that made Farkas tense and feel something stir within him. But he knew that this guy wasn't the only one of his kind out there and he knew she would probably run into one eventually if not this guy. He also knew that Hope could take care of herself and would knock the guy unconscious before he could get the chance to do anything to her. "What do you want me to do with this guy?" Hope's voice knocks Farkas out of his thoughts.

He clears his throat and pushes the worry inside him away. "I need you to knock some sense into him, make him real scared and make him think twice about his actions." He said while re-crossing his arms. "So...you just want me to beat him up?" Hope questioned with an eyebrow raised. "That's right." Farkas nodded.

A contempt expression takes place on her face. Farkas lifts an eyebrow at her. "Problem?" He asked. Hope shifts her eyes away from him as she presses her lips into a tight line. "Just..not much of a job." She mumbles in disappointment. Farkas can't help but chuckle. "I know, but it's your first job and I can't have you doing anything real dangerous. If something were to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

Hope looks back at him quite surprised. She couldn't believe how open he was with his thoughts like that. When she first met him, he'd barely say a word or two to her. Not to mention he was Vilkas's twin brother, she always expected him to be the same, but he wasn't. He was different, but in a pleasant way. He wasn't wish-washy with her like Vilkas was. One day Vilkas will seem reasonable and even help Hope. The next, he'll treat her like she's nothing but a pest. It was getting tiresome.

"So, you think you can handle it?" Farkas's voice knocks her out of it. She quickly nods in response with a light blush forming on her cheeks. "Good." Farkas said with a smile. "If it makes you feel any better, this guy really deserves to have a few bones broken." He said with unpleasant memories coming to his mind. "Break his legs. Got it." Hope said with a thumbs up. Farkas laughed in response.

"Just don't kill him okay, as much as this guy deserves it. We can't kill him." He said with his laughter quickly turning into a serious tone of voice. "Also." Now his voice and expression turns into worry. "This guy." He starts with a small frown. "Don't underestimate him, he's not a good person. Especially to women." He explained with his eyebrows knit together. "So, be careful. Okay?" He said with worry spilling from his eyes.

Hope nods as she stares at him, she can see his hesitation as well as his worry. "I'll be fine." She reassures him with a smile. He returns the smile but only half-heartily, he knows she will be okay but he couldn't help but worry about her. _'Maybe I should let Vilkas know about this...'_ Farkas thinks to himself as he watches Hope gather her things and then leave the room.

She walks out into the hallway with an eager smile spread across her face. "You heading out?" A voice stops her. She stops in the middle of the hallway and turns. It was Kodlak who spoke to her, he was sitting at the long table that was set against the stone wall. "Farkas told me about the job early this morning." Kodlak said with a small smile on his face. Hope nods as she takes a couple steps towards him. "It's not a big job and I know it's probably not what you had hoped for with your first job. But it's a good one to start out with. If you are successful with it,then we will know that you are capable of handling yourself."

Hope nods with another eager smile on her face. "Now go on girl." Kodlak waves a hand towards the door on top of the stairs. "And good luck." He said with a smile. Hope gives him a quick wave and then hurries up the stairs. When she opened the door and reached the top step, she found the room to be empty. It surprised her but she just figured that everyone must of already started their day.

Hope grabbed a sweet roll and headed for the door. When she opened the door and stepped outside, she was surprised to find loud chatter and laughter. Everyone seemed to have decided to eat their breakfast outside. It was a warm day with little wind, which was rare for Skyrim but it did happen. So it made sense for the Companions to want to enjoy their breakfast in the nice weather.

Njada, Torvrar, and Athis were all sitting together. Athis and Njada were arguing like they did every time they were near each other and Torvrar was enjoying the show. Aela and Skjor were sitting together. Aela moved her eyes up when she heard the door open and smiled when she saw it was Hope. "Good morning!" She called to her. Hope looked to Aela and approached her.

"How's the wound?" She asked with her eyes moving to Hope's side. She can see a hint of guilt appear in Aela's eyes. "It's okay." She said with a smile. Aela looked back up to her face with relief now showing in her eyes. "So, we hear you got a job today." Skjor cuts in, making Aela and Hope both look at him.

Hope nods with her eager smile returning to her face. "Don't screw it up whelp." Is all he said before taking a big bite out of his sweet tart. Hope's smile faded as she lifted an eyebrow up at him and Aela couldn't help but laugh. "Pay no attention to him." She said with a wave aimed towards Skjor. "Good luck." She said with a half smile. Hope returns the smile and gives Aela a wave as she walked away from their table.

She makes it to the training yard but before she can go any further, someone else stops her. "You're really going to go?" It was Ria this time. Hope lets out an irritated sigh as she turns around to face her. She saw a sword in Ria's hand and behind her she saw Vilkas. He was holding a shield and he was watching them with a lifted eyebrow.

"I am." Hope finally answered while shifting her eyes back to Ria. A contempt expression takes form on Ria's face as she pursues her lips together in a tight line. The expression she was showing was to let Hope know that she didn't feel okay with it. But she knew that she didn't care. "I still think that you shouldn't go." Ria said in a whisper. "What if the infection in your wound gets worse and you get a fever. You could die!" She whispers louder this time with her eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Shhh!" Hope hissed with a finger pushed against her lips, trying to keep their words away from listening ears. But it was too late, hurried footsteps were approaching them and she didn't need to look up to know who it was. "What's this about an infection?" Vilkas asked, stopping right behind Ria who tensed when she heard him.

Hope gives Ria an irritated look and then moves her eyes to Vilkas. He was standing behind Ria with his back straight and arms crossed over his chest. "Non of your business." She said, turning her nose up at him as she turned to walk away. Vilkas scoffed and quickly went after her.

"It is my business if it effects the job your doing." He told her while following her close behind. "I'm surprised you even know about it." She replied, keeping her nose turned up in the air. "Why wouldn't I know?" Vilkas questioned with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Because I know you couldn't give a skeevers ass about me and my progress here." She said while hurrying down the large set of stairs, but no matter how fast she went Vilkas was right on her heels. "Huh?" Vilkas questioned again with his eyebrows furrowed more. "At least Farkas does though." She said with a girlish sigh.

Vilkas's eyes widen as he comes to a quick stop. "Farkas?" He said with a confused frown on his face. Hope stops and turns around to face him. She then nods with a smirk on her face. "It was Farkas that gave me this job, which means it's Farkas who actually cares about me and thinks about me." Vilkas quickly scoffs at that.

"And what makes you think that?" He asked with his arms crossed. "Well, he said that he gave me a small job so that nothing bad happens to me, which means he thinks about me." She said with a finger pointed at her head. "He also warned me about the person I have to deal with in this job and I could tell he was really worried about me, which means..." She pauses for effect, knowing it would agitate Vilkas. "He cares about me." She finishes with her finger pointed at at.

He frown at her and at the thought, but something else takes his mind and he has to ask. "Why was he worried and who was he warning you about?" He asked with his eyebrows knit together. Hope shrugs in response. "I don't know. He didn't know his name but he told me that he's run into him before and that he gets handsy with women." She said.

Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down as he starts to think. He had a good idea of who it was but...surely his brother wouldn't be stupid enough to make that man Hope's responsibility. While Vilkas was lost in his thought, Hope slipped away. Which was her plan from the start. She knew if she said enough to distract him from the wound on her side, she would be able to eventually get away. And she did.

Vilkas blinks and then looks up to question Hope more but frowns when he sees she is no longer there. _'That stupid...'_ He thinks to himself with a growl. He didn't want her to go till he got an explanation from his brother but she was quick and he knew pursuing her would waste time, so he quickly turns around and heads back to Jorrvaskr as fast as he can.

To his relief he finds his brother wondering around the training yard. When Farkas turns his head and sees Vilkas heading his way, he too looks relieved. "I was just looking for you." Farkas is the first to speak but Vilkas quickly takes over. "Who did you send Hope after?" He got right to the point. "That's actually why I was looking for you..." Farkas said while rubbing the back of his neck.

Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down in question at his brother. "Don't tell me..." Farkas nods before he can finish. He can see Vilkas's jaw tighten and his muscles become tense. "Why would you send Hope after him? **HIM?!** " Vilkas said through clenched teeth. "Because it was the only job I had like that, it was just bad luck that it was him." Replied Farkas.

A low groan escapes Vilkas as he bows his head and pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Just like his brother, Vilkas remembers that man all too well. He was with Farkas when they first encountered him and he was also the other boot that kicked him out of the tavern. The moment they walked in and saw him, they both knew he was bad news and when he grabbed the waitress, it had proved their suspicion.

Now Hope was going after him and she wasn't allowed to kill him. Which meant he could easily over power her and- "She can handle it." Farkas's voice knocks Vilkas out of his horrific thoughts. Vilkas opens his eyes and slowly moves them to Farkas. "I know she can." He said with a sure nod.

Vilkas removes his hand from his face and furrows his eyebrows down at his brother. _'Farkas cares about me and thinks about me.'_ Hope's voice rings his head as he continues to stare at his brother. Farkas lifts an eyebrow up at Vilkas, he shifts his eyes to the side for a moment and then shifts them back. "What?" He finally asks.

"Mmm..." Vilkas groaned as he continued to stare at him. "You must care and think a lot about her, don't you?" He said with his eyes narrowing down at him. Farkas furrows his eyebrows. "What?" He questioned. "What makes you say that?" He said with the corner of his mouth curving up into a questioning smile.

"Mmm..." Vilkas groans again as he continues to stare at his brother for a moment longer. Then he lets out a sigh and takes his eyes off his brother. "Nothing, forget about it." He mumbled. Farkas lifted an eyebrow up at his brother and stared at him with a growing smirk. "I think about her in a lot of ways."

Vilkas's head snapped back so fast Farkas thought it just might fly off. The glare in Vilkas's eyes would of made anybody else back down and roll over but not Farkas, no, he just laughed. Farkas gets his laughs out and then lets out a content sigh as he gives his brother a light punch to the arm. "If you're so worried about her, follow her. Make sure she doesn't get hurt." Farkas suggested with a nudge from his head in the direction Hope walked in.

Vilkas moved his eyes up to look past his brother and into the distance. _'I probably should..._ ' He thinks to himself while chewing on the corner of his bottom lip. "Best not to let her catch you though if you do. She won't be happy." Farkas said making Vilkas look back at him. He furrows his eyebrows down and starts to think more.

"Where is she heading to?" Vilkas finally asked. "Riverwood." Farkas answered. Riverwood, that's not far and Vilkas knew a short cut over the mountains. It was a path that took at least an hour off of the original route there, so long as you had the stamina for it, which he did. Vilkas often took that path when he had business there or in that direction. "So, you going to go?" Farkas asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Vilkas scoffed as he turned away from his brother. "Why would I? She can handle it, that is what you said right?" He said while walking away. "Yeah? Then where are you going?" Farkas asked. "Out." Is all Vilkas said in reply. "Right..." Farkas mumbled to himself as he crossed his arms and watched his brother walk away.

Just an hour later and Vilkas was already half-way up the mountain path. Before he left Whiterun, he saw the door to Belathor's shop open and could hear Hope's voice inside. It was clear that she was there for supplies so Vilkas knew if he hurried, he would be able to make it to Riverwood at least an hour before her.

The higher the path went the more Vilkas's body begged him to stop and take a break. It was a steep path and the altitude was hard to get used to, especially if you were running up the path, like he was. When he reaches the top, he finally gives in to his bodies demands and plants himself on a large rock. He rests his elbows on his knees as he bows his torso forward, trying to catch his breath, but it was like breathing through a straw up where he was.

He takes off one of his gauntlets and wipes the sweat forming on his brow. Not much farther now and going down was always easier than going up. He sits up while putting his gauntlet back on and stands back up to his feet. He looks out at the view and just at the bottom, he can see the small village known as Riverwood.

It was a decent village, people there usually kept to themselves because they had everything they needed. They had roads for traders, they had their own Inn, shop, mill, blacksmith, and river. It was everything that a village needed to go on. Vilkas was actually sweet on a girl there once and it lasted a long while too, so he didn't really like to visit the village unless he had to. When he did go to the village though, he knew his way around and knew how to avoid her. He hopes he can do that now to avoid unnecessary trouble.

He lets out a deep breath and then starts to make his way down the path. It was an easy path to follow and led right to the village. So it shouldn't take him more than half an hour to reach it.

When he does finally reach the village, he first comes to a path. It's a path that goes around the mill and leads right to a small bridge that crosses over to a road. He carefully makes his way down the path and to the bridge with his eyes scanning his surroundings carefully. He can never be sure when she's around or when she's watching.

He stops at the front of the bridge and scans the road after it the best he can. He only sees a few citizens out and about along with the usual workers. He lets out a relieved sigh as he begins to cross the bridge. When he reaches the main road, he looks to where Hope would be walking, but doesn't see her. Just like he thought, he beat her and hopefully by at least an hour. That way he can scan things out and see where this guy is and see what sort of shape he is in.

If he's lucky, if she's lucky, he will be stinking drunk and will only need one good punch to knock him out. So, naturally, the first place Vilkas searches is the Inn. He was friends with the bartender there and knew if this guy wasn't at the Inn, the bartender would tell him where he is. Nothing goes on in the village that Orgnar doesn't know.

Vilkas quickly makes his way over to the Inn and up the steps. He opens the door and is instantly greeted with the heavy smell of mead. It took him by surprise because of how early the day was, but he knew of a few people in the village that liked to get their drink on as early as they possibly could.

Just like he thought, the few he was just thinking about were seated in the Inn, enjoying mugs full of sweet mead. Vilkas looked around the tavern but didn't see the man he is looking for. _'Surprising.'_ He thinks to himself while making his over to the counter.

Orgnar was standing over it, wiping the top of it down with a damp rag. When he heard approaching footsteps, he looked up and was surprised to see that it was Vilkas. "What are you doing here?" Orgnar asked while leaning forward on the counter. "I'm looking for someone." He replied. "It's not Camilla is it?" He asked with a smirk.

"Oh, no. Gods no." Vilkas shakes his head and shudders from just the thought of her. "Oh come on, she's not that bad of a looker." Orgnar said with a chuckle. "Oh, I know. It's not her looks I had a problem with." Vilkas replied with his arms crossing over his chest. Orgnar chuckled again as he stood up and continued to wipe down the counter. "So, who are you looking for if not your old lover?" He asked with his eyes looking back up at Vilkas.

"A man." Vilkas started and before he could say more, Orgnar cut him off with a laugh. "Into men now, are we Vilkas?" He said with a grin. "Shut up." Vilkas sneered. Orgnar held up a hand as well as letting out another good laugh. "Go on, continue." He said with a hand gestured out. "He's someone who causes trouble wherever he goes. He's an outsider, so I figured you would have seen him."

Orgnar nodded and put the rag to the side once more. "Yeah, I have seen him." He said with his face twisting into anger. Most likely from a recent memory involving the man. "He arrived in Riverwood about a week ago. Won't leave no matter how many times the villagers try to chase him off. The other day, Camilla came in here with her brother, when she passed his table he reached out and grabbed her to put her on his lap." The image of it made Vilkas tense.

He didn't have feelings for Camilla anymore but no man should grab a woman without their consent. "Her brother acted fast, punched the guy right in the nose. Took him and everyone in the Inn by surprise, didn't know he had it in him." Orgnar chuckled from the memory. "Didn't do much though, the guy threw Camilla to the ground, jumped up, and beat the hell out of poor Lucan." He shook his head with a sigh.

"Took me, Hod, Alvar and Delphine to get him off and throw him out. Delphine told him that if he ever set foot in her Inn again that she'd stick a sword through his neck and I think he believed her, because I haven't seen him here since." He said with a small shrug. "Does that mean he's no longer in Riverwood?" Vilkas asked a little too quickly. He was starting to feel relieved until Orgnar shook his head.

"If he's not staying here, then where could he stay?" Vilkas asked with a frown forming on his face. "I hear he's taken shelter in a shed near Faendal's home." Orgnar replied. "Why? What would be the point in staying?" Vilkas questioned.

Orgnar shrugged. "I don't know. I think he's just staying because everyone wants him to leave. You know how people like him are." He said with a sigh as he picked up the damp rag and a nearby dirty mug. Vilkas lets out a heavy sigh as he rubs his forehead. "Say, did someone hire you to take care of him?" Orgnar asks with hope showing in his voice. "No, not me, but another Companion." Vilkas answered, removing his hand from his face.

"Who? Could it be Aela?" Orgnar asked with a grin. "No, and I already told you it's not happening. There's more of a chance with her stabbing you in the head than her sleeping with you." Vilkas said with a finger pointed towards him. "Says you." Orgnar replied with a puff of air. "Says her, my friend." Vilkas said with a smirk and a hand planted on Orgnar's shoulder.

Orgnar just grumbled with his eyes to the side as he continued to clean the mug out. He then cleared his throat and looked back up to Vilkas. "So, if you're not the one taking care of him, then why are you asking about him?" He asked with an eyebrow lifted.

Vilkas cleared his throat as he slowly retracted his hand from Orgnar's shoulder. "It's a new member. She joined just a month ago and this is her first job." He explained while rubbing the back of his neck. "Her?" Orgnar questioned with a smirk. Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at him. "Is she attrictive?" He questioned again with an even bigger smirk. Now a frown takes place on Vilkas's face as his eyebrows furrow more.

Orgnar laughed at his reaction for a moment and then cleared his throat. "So, you're doing what? Making sure she gets through it okay?" He asked as he looked into the mug to make sure it was clean enough. "Yeah, you can say that." Vilkas said with his arms crossed over his chest. Orgnar chuckled as he placed the newly clean mug down and picked up another dirty one.

Vilkas opened his mouth to ask more questions the but the door opening behind him made him stop. He turned around and when he saw it was Hope, his eyes widened. _'How is she here already!?'_ He thinks to himself in a panic.

Back before either of them made it to Riverwood. "Are you sure?" Hope asked with her eyelashes batting. "Of course!" The horse master replied with a big grin. "Can't let a pretty girl like you wonder the roads by yourself. Dangerous people out there." He said with a nod and his arms crossed. "How kind of you." Hope giggled with her hand pressed to her cheek.

"We'll take this horse over here." He said with a finger pointed in the direction of a saddled horses. Hope followed close behind with her hands folded together behind her back. "Have you ever ridden a horse before?" He asked while pulling the horse forward. "Can't say that I have." Hope replied. "Well then, it's my honor to give you your first horse ride then." He said while climbing onto the saddle. He holds out a hand to her and she takes it while letting out a small giggle.

Hope had been walking down the road from Whiterun when the horse master noticed her. He asked her where she was off to and when she told him, he offered her a ride with one of his horses. He claimed he was heading that way anyways, but Hope felt like he was just saying that so he could give her a ride on his horse. Which she didn't mind, Riverwood seemed like a long walk. So she agreed to it.

When she reached Riverwood she said quick goodbyes to the horse master and made her way to the Inn. She imagined that would be the first place to look for someone like the man she had to deal with.

Before Hope took another step, Vilkas quickly bolted behind the counter and ducked to hide. Orgnar looked down at him with a confused look on his face. Vilkas pressed a finger to his lips so that Orgnar didn't say anything and that he didn't give away that he was there.

Orgnar quickly looked back up when he heard approaching footsteps. He lifted an eyebrow as he watched Hope approach him. A small grin formed on his face as he realized this was the Companion Vilkas was talking about. "Good afternoon." Orgnar greeted her with a charming smile.

Hope returned the smile. "Good afternoon." She replied. "What can I do for you lass?" He asked with his elbows resting on the counter and his torso leaning forward. "I'm looking for someone." She stated to tell him. "Oh really? Must be a real lucky person to have someone as pretty as you to be looking for them." He said with another charming smile.

He can sense Vilkas's eyes on him and he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from chuckling. Hope only giggled at his small flirt and then continued with her questions. They were basically the same questions that Vilkas had asked and Orgnar answered them about the same way as well.

After he told Hope where she could find him, she thanked him real quick and then left. When Vilkas was sure she was gone he slowly rose from behind the counter and gave Orgnar a mean glare when he did. "What?" Orgnar asked with a grin.

Vilkas let out a sigh as he turned to look towards the door. _'I was really hoping she wouldn't be here for at least another hour...'_ He thought to himself with another sigh. "If you're going to go keep an eye on her, I'd get going. Who knows what will happen between them, especially since she's one hell of a looker." Orgnar said while grabbing at another dirty mug.

Vilkas knew that, so he didn't hesitate to go after Hope. He wasn't going to let her be alone with a man like that. He was going to be there for every moment, just in case he had to jump in and save her. He wasn't about to let anything like that happen to her.


	17. Chapter 17

Hope leaves the tavern and the moment she does, she hears a loud commotion coming from one of the roads in Riverwood. She quickly hurries down the steps and stops at a road that leads to the living area of the small village. She looks and can see a three men arguing.

From the looks of it, two of them were teaming with each other against the other one. "You've been here long enough! It's time for you to leave!" She sees one of them yell. "Who's going to make me? You?" The other man said with a large grin. "No, but someone soon will!" The other man yells back. _'I guess that someone is me.'_ Hope realizes as she starts to walk down the road.

While she approached the yelling men, she examined the one the other two were teaming up against. He was tall and very large. The muscles in his forearms bulged out when he crossed his arms and she watched the muscles in his neck tense when he threw his head back to laugh at the small threats the other two men were throwing at him.

He had long blonde hair that shined in the sun and a long beard to match. She could see a large scar stretch across his face and down his neck to his chest. The armor he wore had large silver plates that reflected beams of sunlight, she could hear the plates clatter together every time he moved. _'Heavy armor, which means he will be slow.'_ She thinks to herself with a confident smile growing on her face, but not too confident. She remembers the warnings Farkas gave her and from the story the barkeeper told her, she knew he would be a tough one.

She stops right by the three shouting men but neither of them see her. "Excuse me." She speaks up but they're so loud, they don't hear her. "Excuse me!" She shouts this time but they still pay no attention to her. Hope furrows her eyebrows down as she watches them yell at each other. _'Okay, time for a different approach.'_

Hope turns her back to the three men and walks a few feet away from them down the road. When she's a good distance, she grabs her bow, along with an arrow already pulled back in the string. She turns back around in a swift motion and holds her bow up in the direction of the large man. _'Can't kill him, but I can get his attention.'_ She thinks to herself while aiming an arrow at the large silver plates on his arm.

With out wasting another second, she lets go of the arrow and watches it fly in the air. It felt like the closer the arrow got to him the more time slowed down. She light reflect off its silver tip and she could swore she saw the very air move out of its way. And then just like that, _**CLING!**_ The arrow hits the large plate on his arm.

Of course the arrow ricocheted right off his armor, but that didn't stop the three men from quickly ducking and taking cover with their arms over their heads. Hope can't help but chuckle from the sight as she lowers her bow.

They all slowly lower their arms and stand up looking around. The larger man quickly turns his head in Hope's direction and furrows his eyebrows when he sees her. She gives him a smirk while placing her bow back in its place. "You the one causing trouble around here?" She asked with the smirk remaining on her face.

The other two men quickly look to each other when they realize who she is. They both soon back away and leave, knowing what was about to take place. "And who might you be?" The large man asked with his eyes scanning over Hope's body. "They call me Hope, want to know why?" She said with a growing grin. The man cocked an eyebrow at her. "Because you're going to HOPE I go easy on you today!"

A loud obnoxious snort from behind quickly averts Hope's attention from the large man, she lifts an eyebrow up when she sees that no body is there. Little does she know, Vilkas was hiding behind the wall of the Inn with both hands over his mouth.

Loud laughter coming from the large man brings Hope's eyes back to him. He had both hands grasping his sides with his head tilted back, laughing. She raised an eyebrow up as she watched him get all of his laughter out. He then lets out a loud, amused sigh while wiping a tear away from his eye with his finger. "You've got some guts, little lady. I'll give you that much." He said while approaching her.

As he did approach her, she watched a large, menacing grin spread across his face and saw his eyes deepen with hunger. But hunger for what? She didn't want to know. He stopped right in front of her, he was so close she could feel his breath on the top of her head. She slowly lifted her head to look up at his face and was surprised to see just how much he towered over her. "You've asked me if I was the one causing trouble?" He questioned with his eyes narrowing down at her.

She didn't answer, she just continued to look into his burning grey eyes, too afraid of what might happen if she looked away. "What exactly are you going to do about it?" He asked in a whisper that blew hot air all over her face. It moved her bangs to the side and felt like acid on her skin. This man was the type of man that every woman had nightmares about at night.

Hope can feel her face lose it's color and the large man standing over her can see it. He grins a toothy grin that shows off sharp canines. Not only can he see the fear in her eyes but he can also _feel_ it. It was radiating off of her like heat radiated off of the sun, fear was something he always liked to watch grow, what he always liked to make people feel.

 _'Never expose your weakness to the enemy, never hesitate, and never show fear.'_ Aela's voice rings in her head as does her lessons. Never show fear. How could one not show fear in the face of such a predator? _'But he's not the predator.'_ An inner voice came from inside her, one she didn't know she had. _'You are.'_ It struck something inside, something that made all of her fear disappear and allow courage to take over.

 _'He's still waiting for an answer.'_ She eyes his toothy grin for a moment and then moves her eyes back to his. _'So give him one.'_ Another spark ignites inside of her, and he saw it. His grin slowly fades as one slowly forms on Hope's face.

 _ **CRACK!**_ The ugly sound of bones breaking makes every hidden person watching, wince. She's not sure how she did it, but she did it. She was somehow able to jump high enough to slam her forehead against his face hard. So hard it sent him falling backwards. Before he could fall completely to the ground, Hope swiped a foot out behind his leg to trip him and make him hit the ground harder than he would of if she had let him fall on his own.

 _ **THUD!**_ Another ugly sound comes from the back of his head hitting the stone road. She could see small cracks form in one of the stones his head landed on. Hope grinned as she circled around him and watched him bring a hand up to his broken nose. She stopped just to the side of him and slightly leaned over. "That." She answered his threatening question from before.

An angry sound came from the man that sounded like a snarl one would hear from a beast. She saw him begin to move an arm in her direction and knew what was coming, but she couldn't get out of the way in time. She tried but then suddenly saw stars when his fist came into contact with the side of her face. The hit was so hard it sent her to the ground, she didn't stay down long though.

She quickly scrambled to her feet but large fingers were suddenly wrapped around her ankle and pulled her back down. _**CRACK!**_ Now that ugly sound was coming from Hope's own face. She was pulled to the ground so fast that she couldn't catch herself with her hands, which led to her face slamming into the stone street. She's officially lost count of how many times her nose has been broken.

The next thing she knows, she's being turned over to her back and she can feel strong hands grip her wrists and hold them down against the ground. She opens her eyes and threw the stars she can see a large body looming over her. _'Oh great.'_

The stars in her eyes slowly fade till there's nothing left but the bloody face of the large man hovering over her. She watched blood run down from his broken nose and into his blonde beard. His upper lip curves into a mean snarl. "You're going to regret that!" He yells with his grip tightening around her wrists. Hope wiggles and squirms beneath him but he's too strong, and too big. She can't break free.

Vilkas grips the wooden rail that surrounded the porch of the Inn so hard that the wood starts to splinter within his fists. He was leaning over the rail just enough to see but not enough to be seen. It took him off guard when he saw Hope land a hard hit to the mans face and it surprised him even more to watch her take him off his feet.

He felt pleased and confident in Hope, till he watched the oversized man take her to the ground and pin her down. Vilkas digs his nails into the wood as he watched Hope struggle against the large body on top of her. The wolf inside him was lunging and scratching at his surface, begging to be released so that non other can claim her like it wanted to.

 _'No.'_ Vilkas tightened his jaw and tightened his grip on the wooden rail. He forced the beast inside him to back down. _'She can do it.'_ He tells himself but he doesn't convince himself. Every fiber of his being was telling him to jump down there and knock that man off her. He imagined pulling that man off of Hope by the shoulders and beating him with his fist till his face was nothing but a bloody mess. But he didn't, he forced himself to stay and give her a chance.

Hope can feel her arms being pressed together so that it only took one large hand to hold her down. _'You have about ten seconds to get out or you'll die.'_ Aela's voice begins to ring in her head again. Ten seconds, in that time this man will do something to her, things to her that women have nightmares about. He's planning on it, she can see it in his eyes when he looks over her body and he's going to do it in front of everyone who is watching.

 _'No, I won't let him!'_ Vilkas can feel blood fill the tips of his fingernails as splinters shoot up them from the wooden rail. His chest heaves in deep breaths as his focus begins to become clouded. Rage courses through his veins as images of blood splattering the road flash in his mind, but not his blood, not Hope's blood, that mans blood. He can see himself unleashing the beast with in and tearing him apart, not caring who sees, only caring about keeping her safe. _'No.'_

Vilkas clenches his jaw and bites his tongue to force the images and thoughts away. _'She can do it.'_ He tells himself once more. ' _And if she needs help, I will be right here.'_ He continues to tell himself. Trying to convince himself that the situation before him was in control, but it wasn't working. He knew that he was close enough to stop this man from harming Hope in the worst ways but he also knew that he was far enough, that this man could still humiliate Hope, in the worst ways.

But no matter what thought came to him, no matter the fear that rose inside him. He stayed, he stayed so that she would have a chance. _'Just a little longer.'_ He told himself. He'd give her just a little bit longer before he intervened.

The man shifts himself up to his knees so that he is properly over Hope. He holds her arms down together above her head with one large hand. He reaches for her chest plate with the other. A fearful gasp leaves Hope and with out thinking, she lunges her head forward and head-butts him hard again, right in the nose.

"Ah!" He shouts in pain with his head flying back. In that opportunity Hope tries to push him off but instead gets another punch to the face. She groans in pain with her eyes fluttering shut and her head laying to the side. She sees stars behind the lids of her eyes and she can feel blood trickle down her cheek. Where ever his fist had landed was now busted open and throbbed with pain.

"Stupid bitch." He hissed in pain while wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand. "Why isn't anyone helping her?" Hope hears a nearby woman say in a hushed voice. "Because she's a Companion, or at least supposed to be." A man replies. "You're kidding!" Another hollers. "You would think they would send someone more capable..."

Hope tenses and clenches her fist tightly as she listens to the mumbles and hushed voices around her. She can only imagine what she must look like to everyone who was watching. A helpless girl trying to be more than she'll ever be, a helpless girl that should learn her place in the world.

A surprised yelp is suddenly heard from her. The man above her had just grabbed her chest plate and ripped it off with a single pull. Even through her chain-mail, she can feel the skin on her back hurt from the leather straps breaking against her. She can feel his grip on her loosen just a little as he lowers his lips down to her ear. "I'm going to enjoy this and I'm going to make sure everybody in this village hears you. Then they'll know better the next time they try to mess with me." Like before, his breath hits her like acid and makes her wince.

She feels him lift himself up and then hears something unbuckle. Her eyes fly open and move to where his free hand is, he was removing the steel plates from his arm so that he could remove more of his armor easier. It's an opportunity that Hope sees and knows she must take. His grip on her was loose enough to where she could attempt something. He must of assumed that he had weakened her enough to let some of his guard down. ' _Never let your guard down.'_ There's Aela's voice again, coming to the rescue.

 _'Time to teach this ass hole a lesson!'_ "Agh!" Hope shouts as she yanks her arms downward, out of his grip. The action took him by surprise while also taking his balance. With her arms no longer supporting his weight, he soon finds himself falling forward and then finds himself seeing his own stars.

When he fell forward. Hope head-butted him again without any hesitation. This time she made sure she did it hard enough to really send him reeling back. She then placed both hands on the top of his head and in swift movement, flipped them over, slamming his head into the stone road as hard as she can.

Hope got to her feet as quick as she could, fearing that she would be pulled back down again. She stumbles away from him a few steps and then turns around to face him. He's laying on the ground with both hands resting on the top of his head. Hope can see blood begin to pool beneath his head. She moves her eyes back to his face and the look of pain is spread a crossed it. _'Good.'_

She stumbles back forward towards him and bends over to pick up the chest plate that he had ripped off her. She stands back up straight while dusting dirt off of the front of it. A low groan coming from the injured man makes Hope look back down at him. She circles around him and stops right next to him. "I'd advice that you leave this village, and keep yourself out of trouble." She said. She then leaned down towards him with a mean sneer on her face. "Or next time you might find yourself loosing more than just your blood." With that said, Hope spits blood on his face and then walks away from him.

"Wow!" A villager exclaims in shock next to Vilkas. "I can't believe she actually did it." Another mumbled nearby. Vilkas watched Hope walk away from the injured man with his eyes wide and mouth agape. He was just as shocked as the villagers were, but he was also proud.

To watch Hope re-take the offensive and knock him back to the ground...well...saying it excited him would be an understatement. Before, the beast inside him jumped with rage but now...it was jumping with something else. "Not bad." A friends voice startles him and makes him jump. Vilkas stands up straight from the wooden rail, and looks to the side.

It was Orgnar, at some point he had left his place in the Inn and came outside to watch the fight. "I was worried there for a minute, but she did it." He said with an impressed smile. Vilkas nods in agreement while leaning back over the rail to look at Hope. She was heading right for him, she moved her eyes right in his direction. Vilkas tensed and quickly moved back out of sight. "I think she saw you." Orgnar chuckled. "Shut up!" Vilkas said in a panicked whisper.

Vilkas moved into a crouched position and hurried off before Hope could reach them. The moment he was out of sight, she was in sight. She looked up towards the porch of the Inn where Vilkas once stood and furrowed her eyebrows when she saw that no one was there but Orgnar. He winked at her when she moved her eyes to him.

Vilkas peeks around the corner of the building and can't help but chuckle at the confused look on Hope's face. _'Guess I can go back home now...'_ He thinks to himself as he takes one last good look at Hope. "Vilkas!?" A loud voice from behind makes him jump and then freeze in place. _'Oh, gods!'_ He thinks to himself with a cringe growing on his face.

"Vilkas, is that you!?" The voice laughs out loudly this time and he knows it was loud enough for others to hear. Vilkas quickly turns around and finds Camilla standing behind him with a big smile on her face. Before he can respond to her, she hurriedly walks up to him and throws her arms around his neck, pulling him into a big hug.

Vilkas is taken aback by the motion for a moment but then returns it with a pat on her back. Before she can try to do anything else, Vilkas grasps her shoulders and pushes her away from him. "What are you doing here in Riverwood?" She asked while grabbing his forearms with her hands to keep him close.

He shifts his eyes down to her hands and then shifts them back up to her face. "I'm uh-" He stops to think of a reason to tell her aside from the truth, but since running into her took him by surprise, he couldn't think of a damn thing. "Are you with that other Companion? The one who just took out that scum?" She asked leaving him no time to think.

Vilkas purses his lips together while staring at her for a moment. Coming up with lies while being on the spot, wasn't his best skill. "Yeah." He finally answers. "Oh." Camilla brings her eyes down to the ground while slightly tilting her head in disappointment. "She's pretty, I suppose." She said with a small pout.

 _'Huh?'_ Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at her. _'What does that have to do with anything?'_ "I guess I should of realized that when I saw you peeking out at her." Camilla speaks again while keeping her eyes down. Vilkas blinks at her in more confusion. _'What in Oblivion is she going on about?'_

"At first I thought it was because you got paired up for the job but that wouldn't make sense, it was just a simple job after all..." She continues, completely oblivious to Vilkas's confusion. "But now it's obvious that you were just checking on her to make sure she got through the job okay, it makes perfect sense now that I know your lovers."

Vilkas freezes, his grip on her shoulders unconsciously tightens and his stomach twists into all sorts of knots. _'Lovers!? That's what she got out of my answer before?'_ He thought she was asking if he accompanied Hope here, but really she was asking if they were together- _ **together**_.

"I knew it!" Hope's unmistakably loud voice comes from behind him, making him become more tense than he already was. If that was even possible. _'Oh shit.'_ Is all he can think. "I knew I heard your stupid laugh earlier!" She shouts, which makes him wince. He can hear her start to approach him from behind and he doesn't need to look back at her to know what expression was on her face. He could hear it in her voice.

Camilla tilted her head to look over Vilkas's shoulder with an eyebrow raised. "Stupid?" She questioned. Hope stops in her tracks with her eyebrows furrowed at Camilla. "I think he has a rather good laugh." She said in Vilkas's defense.

Hope furrows her eyebrows down more at her. She shifts her eyes down to Vilkas's hands that were planted on Camilla's shoulders and then moved them to Camilla's hands, which were still holding onto Vilkas's arms. She moves her eyes back up to Camilla's face, keeping her eyebrows furrowed. "Who's this Vilkas? Your girlfriend?" Hope said with a half smirk forming on her face.

Vilkas just stands there, frozen. He stares out into space past Camilla's head trying to figure out what to do. _'Gods...how do I get out of this one...'_ Camilla's laugh brings him out of it. She lets go of his arms and lets them drop from her shoulders, she walks around him and approaches Hope.

Hope's smirk drops as does her eyebrows. Camilla was standing rather close to her and she didn't know what to think of it just yet. "No, I used to be though." She said with a half smile of her own. "I'm Camilla and Vilkas just told me about you." She said with her smile remaining. Hope blinked at Camilla with her eyebrows still furrowed. "It's good to see he has moved on and taken on a new **lover**." There was venom in her voice when she said that.

Hope choked at the word "lover", like something had got caught in her throat, leaving her a coughing mess. Vilkas tightly shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. It possibly can't get any worse than this. "I'm. his. what?" Hope speaks between coughs.

Camilla furrowed her eyebrows down at Hope. "Do you have something caught in your throat?" She asks as she watches Hope continue to cough. Hope holds up a finger as she bends over with a hand covering her throat. Camilla's words had really caught her off guard and caused her to choke on her own saliva.

Hope places both hands on her knees as she lowers her head to get the last few coughs out. When she finally gets them all out, she takes a few moments to catch her breath before standing back up straight. "Charming one you've picked out." Camilla mumbled back to Vilkas but kept it audible enough for Hope to hear.

 _'Picked out!?'_ Hope looks back at Camilla with furrowed eyebrows. _'Like some kind of bar wench?'_ She quickly moves her eyes to Vilkas, who still had his back to her. Just what has he said about her and why?

"Does it hurt?" Camilla grabs back Hope's attention. "What?" She questions. "You're face? It looks like it hurts." She pointed out while observing Hope's injuries. Hope slowly brings a hand up to her busted open cheek bone, when her fingers brush against it she can't help but wince. She had almost forgotten about it and it seems like Vilkas had too.

He put his hand back down to his side and then turned around to face Hope. He winced himself when he saw the condition of her face. He knew it was bad but didn't know exactly how bad because of the distance between them before. He slightly tilts his head to the side to try and get a better view of her busted cheek. He followed the blood trail down the side of her face with his eyes. It stopped bleeding but it needed to be tended to and soon.

Vilkas cleared his throat, making both ladies look in his direction. With out looking at Camilla, he walks past her and straight to Hope. "It was good to see you again Camilla, but I should get my **lover** back home." He said while keeping his eyes on Hope and his back to Camilla. Hope quickly furrows her eyebrows down at him and then frowns when he winks at her.

"Oh." Camilla breathed. She sounded disappointed, envious maybe. Hope shifted her eyes to Camilla, who had a big frown on her face. "Come on, **love**. Let's go." There's that word again but before Hope could respond to it, Vilkas grabbed her shoulders, turned her around, and marched her towards the road and away from Camilla.

"Vilkas." Hope said his name with venom in her voice, but he just kept pushing her forward. "I'll explain in a bit." He replied with an uncomfortable chuckle.

Vilkas hurried Hope out of Riverwood as fast as he could and walked her to the path that he took to get there. "Would of been nice to know this was her..." Hope mumbled when they reached it. On the way there, Vilkas had explained to Hope the situation and why Camilla thought she was his lover. "So why didn't you tell her she misunderstood?" Hope asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Because you arrived before I could, it still worked out in our favor though." He said with a small smile. "Oh yeah? How?" Hope questioned. "If I had told her you weren't my lover, she never would of left me alone and never let me leave Riverwood." He answered. "So it was really just in your favor then." She mumbled.

"Maybe." He replied with a chuckle. "So..Why were you in Riverwood? Checking on me?" Hope asked with a half smirk on her face. Vilkas quickly scoffs at her while keeping his eyes away. "I was only there to make sure you didn't embarrass yourself and the Companions." He replied. "Okay, right." Hope rolled her eyes, not believing him for one moment.

"I think it'd just be easier if you admit you care about me. I bet you secretly wished there was some truth in that whole lover story." Vilkas stopped in his tracks so fast that he nearly made Hope run into him. She was able to dig her heels into the ground fast enough though to avoid it. He quickly turned around with his index finger pointed in her direction. "No." Is all he said.

Hope scoffs while crossing her arms over her breasts, wincing when they pressed down against her chest. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at her quick wince of pain and then moves his eyes down to her side, remembering that she had an injury there from just the other day. Hope uncrosses her arms and rubs her side. "I had completely forgotten about it." She said in a chuckle.

So had he. Vilkas quickly moved his eyes back to Hope's face and started to examine the injuries she had on it for a moment. She met his eyes and watched them scan over her. "What?" She finally asked. He took a step towards her and slowly raised a hand up to her face. Hope shifted her eyes back and forth between his hand and his face, unsure of what he was doing.

When his fingers came into contact with her cheek, she winced. Not so much from pain but just from uncertainty. She kept her eyes locked on his as she felt him move his thumb across her busted cheek. He then dragged his thumb down to her bottom lip, the corner of it was swollen from the punches she had received earlier.

He stared at the bruised lip for a long moment and then slowly moved his eyes up to her busted nose. The bridge of it was busted open just like her cheek and had a dry blood trail run down from it. As he stared at her injuries, he felt anger rise inside him. The memories of that man hurting her were way too fresh and stirred the wolf inside him.

He drags his thumb across her lips as he moves his eyes back down towards them. In that moment, he can't help but feel protective and slightly possessive over her, but in his defense, he did just witness a fully grown man nearly beat her to death not even an hour ago. A heavy sigh leaves him as he moves his hand from her face and runs it down her side.

He stops it right on top of the injury she received from training with Aela, when he does he can feel her muscles tense beneath his palm. He remembered hearing something about it being infected from Ria earlier that day, but in all the chaos from just moments ago, he had completely forgotten about it.

He stares at the spot he has his hand over, he can't see the injury due to Hope's chain-mail but he can imagine it. "Does it still hurt?" He asks in a quiet voice while keeping his eyes on his hand. "Only when you touch it." Hope answers in an even quieter voice.

He feels her tense again when he starts to rub his thumb along the side of her stomach. He can sense her unease and confusion about the situation while sensing something else coming from her. Something he would never imagine and something he told himself that was only his imagination.

"You should let me take a look at it." He said with some huskiness to his voice. Hope swallowed hard but then let out a breathy chuckle. "You only want me to take my top off." She joked with another uncomfortable chuckle. Vilkas snapped his eyes back up to hers and when he did, he nearly took her breath away.

When his icy blue eyes burn into hers, her knees tremble and nearly give out. She's not sure how much time has passed since his eyes met with hers, but it felt like an eternity. His hand remained at her side and she felt like he was slowly pulling her towards him. The way he was looking at her, no one has ever looked at her like that and no one has ever made her feel like she did when his eyes burned into hers, and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

But then, it stops. The moment between them shatters like glass when a smirk forms on Vilkas's face. "You wish." Is all he said as he removed his hand from her, turned his back to her, and walked away from her, continuing up the mountain path.

A deep frown forms on Hope's face as her eyebrows furrow. She blinks in confusion as Vilkas continues to walk away from her. _'What in a oblivion just happened?'_ She wondered to herself as her eyes moved down towards the ground. Her eyebrows remained furrowed as the expression on her face turned into a contempt one. _'He did that on purpose.'_ She realized with a frustrated groan escaping from her.

"Hurry up or I'll leave you behind!" Vilkas calls back to her. Hope snaps her head back up and hurries off up the path to catch up to him. "When we reach the other side of this mountain, we'll stop at a nearby stream so you can clean yourself up. You look like a street whore." He mumbled out the last part but she heard it and she let him know that she heard it by throwing a stone at his head.


	18. Chapter 18

When Vilkas and Hope reached the other side of the mountain, Vilkas insisted on Hope washing off in a stream, but she refused. "You stink! and didn't I mention you look like a street whore?" Vilkas said with his arms stubbornly crossed. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down as she had her hands gripping her hips. "I don't care what I look like, there's no way I'm washing off in front of you!" She said with a finger pointed at him.

"You really want to return to Jorrvaskr, looking like that?" He said with his eyes scanning over her bloody face. "Like I said, I could care less what I look like. Besides, my victory will be more believable if I come back bloody than come back clean."

"You don't think they'll take my word for it?" Vilkas questioned with a half smirk and cocked eyebrow. "I wouldn't." Hope mumbled. Vilkas scoffs, acting like he's offended by that.

When they both reach Jorrvaskr, Farkas is the first to approach them. Hope stops in front of him while Vilkas just walks past them. She can see him slightly look to her from over his shoulder as he walks away but doesn't think much of it. "The fact that you're standing up straight with out a limp means that you won. At least I hope that's what it means." Farkas said with his arms crossing over his chest.

Hope looks at him and then gives him a smile along with a nod. She can see his shoulders relax in response to that and a smile grow on his face. "I knew you could do it." He said with his arms uncrossing and a hand moving to her shoulder. He gently places it on top, in case she might of gotten hurt in that area and then gives it a gentle squeeze.

She moves her eyes to his hand and stares at it for a moment trying to decide what it could mean, she then clears her throat, breaking the silence and looks back up to his face. "Well, that makes one of you." She said with her eyes now shifting to the side. "What do you mean?" Farkas asked with a lifted eyebrow. She moved her eyes back to him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Vilkas followed me to Riverwood, I don't think he believed I could do it." She said with a growing frown. Farkas chuckles and looks back at his brother who was now sitting down at one of the tables. He had his eyes on them but the moment Farkas looked at him, he looked away, pretending like he wasn't watching. Farkas can't help but chuckle again as he turns his head back to Hope. "I'm sure that's not why he followed you." He said with a smile.

"Oh?" Hope questioned with a raised eyebrow. Without giving her an answer, Farkas reached back into his pouch and pulled out a large coin purse. He then removed his hand that was on her shoulder and gently grabbed one of her hands, bringing it up. "Here." He said while placing the coin purse into her palm.

Hope looked down at it with her eyes widening. She then quickly looked back up at him with questioning eyebrows. "What's wrong?" Farkas asked. "You're paying me?" She asked in bewilderment. "Of course, why wouldn't I pay you?" He asked with his eyebrows knit together in confusion. She shrugs while moving her eyes back down at the coin purse. "I guess I just thought this job was a test or some kind of training..." She replied quietly.

A small chuckle leaves Farkas as he watched her look at the large coin purse with disbelief spilling from her eyes. The way she was looking at it, it was as if she's never seen so much coin before. That's when Farkas gets an idea, an idea he knew would send his brother reeling over the edge and Hope staggering back.

Slowly, it had to be slowly when Farkas moved his hand up to the side of Hope's face. He dragged his middle finger along her jaw-line and to the bottom of her chin. He then slowly lifted it so that her eyes met with his. "You deserve it." He said in a soft and soothing voice. "At least I think so, because to tell you the truth..." He stops his thumb on the top of her chin, just at the bottom of her lip and rubs the soft skin beneath her chin with the rest of his fingers.

He watches her eyes widen at the motion and a light blush form on the sides of her cheeks. He can also feel his brothers eyes burning into him from behind and he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from smiling. _'You care and think about her a lot, don't you?'_ Vilkas's words ring in his head and soon become his own. "I was real worried about you, I care and think about you a lot. You know?"

At that moment, they both freeze and it seems like the very air freezes around them. Hope stares at Farkas with wide, unbelieving eyes and he stares at her, just the same. It was a joke, it was supposed to be a joke but...when the words left Farkas's mouth, they had some kind of feeling to them. A feeling that Farkas did not expect them to have.

 _'Oh shit.'_ Is all he can think while he stares into her wide, emerald green eyes. He gulps hard and shuts his eyes tightly for a moment, to regain himself. "Just like I do with the others." He speaks, breaking the silence between them. Hope blinks a few times and then her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "The other new bloods." Farkas speaks again, this time while clearing his throat and quickly lowering his hand away from her face. "Everyone should care really..." Now he's just babbling with his body standing in an awkward position.

Hope now furrows her eyebrows down at him, even more confused than she was just seconds ago. "Because...they're new...and..." More babbling as he slowly backs away from Hope. He then stops, stares at her for just a moment longer and then, with out another word, turns around and walks away from her.

She blinkes as she watches him walk away from her. He has his head bowed and shoulders slumped over, she can hear him mumbling to himself but it was too quiet for her to hear. _'What in oblivion just happened?'_ She wondered to herself as she watched Farkas open up Jorrvaskr's doors and then enter the building with the doors shutting fast behind him.

She then moves her eyes to where Vilkas was sitting. She saw him staring down into a now full mug of mead with a mean scowl on his face. _'Well now, what's his problem?'_ She wonders again as she continues to stare at him for a moment longer. Unconsciously, she squeezes her fingers around the large coin purse in her hand, which makes her remember that it was there.

She looks down at the coin purse and stares at it for a moment. She could still hardly believe that she was getting paid so much for just beating a guy up. _'If I had this much money back home, I'd be able to stock up the house for nearly half-a year.'_ She thinks to herself with a small smile on her face.

That smile soon fades just as it appeared. _'Home.'_ She thinks again as she continues to stare at the large coin purse. _'I wonder how they're doing on supplies...'_ It's been a whole month since she left home and she knows their supplies must be running low by now. Hope purses her lips together as she squeezes the coin purse in her hand, continuing to think to herself.

If she could somehow give them at least half of the coin she just made, then she knew for sure that they would be set in coin and be able to buy food to last them a long while. Hope slowly lifts her other hand up to the jeweled necklace that always hung from her neck. She twists it between her thumb and index finger as she continues to think while staring at the coin purse.

 _'Okay.'_ It's been decided. Hope will find some way to get half the coin she made to her family back at home, along with a few letters to let them know that all was going well and she was still alive. Hope places the coin purse in her pack and then walks towards Jorrvaskr. When she walks by Vilkas, he doesn't look up at her or questions what she is doing, like he usually does. She pays no attention to him and walks into the building, leaving him to glare at his mug full of mead.

When she enters the building, she's greeted with the smell of fresh food. She looks to the table and can see most of the Companions sitting down, eating lunch together like they usually do. When the door shuts behind her, Ria quickly looks up and smiles when she sees it is Hope. She gets up from her chair and rushes over to her. "How'd it go?!" She asked in excitement.

Hope looked at Ria and before she could respond, a frown quickly took place on Ria's face, making her excitement disappear. The condition of Hope's face had made her fear the worse. "Don't let my injuries fool you." Hope quickly spoke before Ria could ask. Ria moves her eyes away from her injuries and lifts an eyebrow. "The other guy looks worse, promise." She said with a smile.

Ria's smile reappeared as she let out a relieved sigh. "How's your other wound?" She asked with her eyes moving down to Hope's side. "It's fine, didn't bother me one time." She replied. Ria looked back up at Hope's face and examined her wounds a little more. "Want me to help clean those up?" She asked. "No, I can do it myself." Hope answered and then started to walk around Ria to get to the stairs.

"Are you sure? I can help." Ria said while quickly following her. Hope came to a quick stop and spun around to face Ria. "I said I can do it. Now stop pestering me like a mother and go away." She said with her hands shooing her away. "Okay fine." Ria pouted and then turned away from Hope and walked back to the table to continue eating her plate full of food.

Hope let out a small sigh as she turned back around and walked towards the stairs. She didn't mean to be rude but she really wanted to get started on those letters, even though she didn't know what to say in them yet.

She quickly walked down the stairs and immediately went into the sleeping quarters. She started to look around the beds and on the side tables to see if there was any paper. And sadly, she found none. She let out a sigh as she plopped down on to one of the beds. _'Does no one here use paper?'_ She wonders with her fingers beating rapidly on the edge of the bed. _'I wonder if they can even write...'_ She furrows her eyebrows as she continues to think. _'Does that mean non of them can read?'_ Her thoughts were beginning to trail off, making her almost forget what she was doing.

Torvrar pops into her head as does his goofy, drunk smile and dirty beard. _'I doubt he does.'_ She thinks to herself with a small smile. She was now leaning forward with her hands gripping the edge of the bed and her foot trailing circles on the floor. The other Companions faces come to her mind and she decides which one's probably read and which ones don't. It was mostly Torvrar that she assumed didn't read, with the way he acted and all.

Hope sits there, lost in her thoughts, completely forgetting what she was doing. That happened a lot to her if she was left alone. No one was in the lower part of Jorrvaskr and no one had her doing anything. So, she was lost in her random thoughts and silly assumptions.

"There you are! I was just about to go looking for you!" Kodlak's sudden appearance makes Hope jump and let out a startled yelp. She quickly looks up at him with wide eyes and her heart racing in her chest. He can't help but laugh from the look on her face as he walks more into the room. She relaxes a bit when she realized it was just him and moved her eyes back down to the floor.

"I just got done speaking to Farkas." He said while stopping right in front of her. "Farkas?" Hope questioned, looking back up at him. The moment she said his name, she swore she could hear quick ascending footsteps up the stairs and then the door quickly shutting, as if someone was in a hurry to be away. _'That was weird.'_

"That's right lass. He just got done telling me that you were successful in your first job." He said with a smile. "Not easily though, as I can see." He pointed out as he tilted his head slightly to eye her injured face more. "You should see the other guy." Hope said with a smirk. Kodlak chuckled at her reply as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Anyways." He said while clearing his throat.

"I was looking for you because I wanted to tell you, that I now think you really are ready to take on some work." He said with a confident smile. Hope's eyes widened a bit as a smile grew on her face. "Of course they will still be small jobs, but they will be challenging also. Can't really learn anything if I only have you beating up scum, eh?" He said with a crooked smirk and Hope quickly agreed with a nod.

"Aela and Farkas will be the ones to give you jobs when they think they've found some you can handle. Till you do get those said jobs, I want you to continue with your training. Understand?" He said with lifted eyebrows. Hope's smile grows as she nods again. "I understand." She said with excitement showing in her eyes. Kodlak smiles at that and then begins to walk away. "I'll leave you to it then." He said while leaving the room.

"Oh wait!" Hope stops him as she quickly gets up from the bed. She's suddenly remembered what she was doing before and wanted to ask him while he was there. "Do you happen to have any paper?" She asked with hopeful eyes. "Sorry lass, the only paper I have are in my books and I'm afraid they're used up." He said with a small smile. "Oh." Hope replied with eyes moving to the ground.

"I bet Vilkas has some though." Kodlak told her, making her look back up at him. "He's always been one for reading and writing, so I suggest asking him." He said while giving her a quick pat to the arm before turning away to walk for the stairs so that he could join the others for lunch.

Hope watched him walk away with a lifted eyebrow. _'Really? Vilkas reads and writes?'_ She thinks to herself with a surprised look on her face. _'Didn't expect that.'_ She thought to herself more as she began to walk towards the stairs. But when she reaches the middle of the hallway, she stops and just watches the door close after Kodlak walks through it.

Kodlak had told her to ask him, but she wasn't so sure if she should. She felt like if she asked Vilkas for paper, he would question her to the point where she would become annoyed and then he would poke fun at her which would make her angry and at the end of it all, she probably wouldn't get any paper. _'I'll just go take some and pay him back for it later.'_ She decides as she turns down the hall and starts to walk to where his room was.

She knew which side of the hall is room was located on, but she didn't know which door was his. She was standing in the turn off that led to his room and was moving her eyes from one door to the other. She's seen him come from this direction but she's never seen him enter his room before. _'I'll just have to guess.'_ She decides as she moves her eyes between both doors once more.

She decides to go with the door on the left and approaches it. She grabs the door knob and pushes the door open. In the room was a fairly large bed pressed against the far wall. The covers and sheets were all made and the pillows were aligned with each other at the top of the bed perfectly. Then near the door where she was standing, was a desk that was cluttered with books and piles of paper with sloppy hand writing.

She approaches the desk and picks up one of the papers to read it. It was list of jobs that had been given to the other Companions, surprisingly Torvrar was on there quite a bit and seemed he did well at completing jobs. At the very bottom was Hope's name and for some reason, it was written out a lot neater than the others. As if he was in deep thought when writing her name. ' _Weird.'_

What was also weird was that there was nothing written next to her name like the others. Probably because she hadn't been given the job yet when he wrote her name down, but then why would he write her name at all? _'Oh well.'_ It didn't matter to her at the moment, so she laid it back down on the desk just as it was and began her search. It was fortunate that the first room she found actually belonged to Vilkas, it made her have more time to look.

First she searched on his desk, she moved the papers around hoping to find a couple of blank ones. But she didn't. So now she's flipping through the pages of his books to see if any were there also, and there wasn't.

Hope lets out a frustrated sigh as she runs her fingers through her hair. She took a couple steps away from the desk and examined it a bit more. She moved her eyes on the lower parts of it and under it in case any had fallen to the floor and as she expected, non have. She turns her body away from the desk and scans the rest of the room with her eyes.

She first looks to the side table next to Vilkas's bed and can see another pile of books but they were stacked neatly -unlike the ones on his desk- and saw that no papers were sticking out through the pages. She then gets on all fours to search under his bed and yet again, finds no more than a couple pair of shoes.

Now an irritated groan leaves her as she gets back up to her feet. She scans the room with her eyes more and this time they stop on a large dresser that towered over her. The top of it looked like it was about to touch the ceiling, but it probably only looked like that because of how short she was. Vilkas was built like a giant though, so it could be touching the ceiling for all she knew. She just prayed to the gods that the paper she was searching for wasn't on top of it.

Hope approached the large dresser and opened both doors that were located on its front. Inside was nothing but a few cotton shirts hanging on metal hooks. She closed the doors and then started to open the drawers beneath them. In the first one was nothing but folded pants and the second one was nothing but clean undergarments, the moment she realized what they were, she quickly shut that drawer and decided to pretend that she never saw them.

She finally reaches the third and final drawer. She opens it and is surprised when she sees only a metal box lays inside. It looked like it was made of silver, the corners of it were showing signs of rust and on the very top of its lid, right in the middle, was the letter **J** and it was deeply carved in so that it would never fade away.

She slowly traces the letter with her finger, feeling the ridged edges of it. It must of been carved with a knife or dagger. It was nothing fancy, in fact, nothing about the box was fancy. It was just an old silver box, but it had feeling to it, there was something special or perhaps precious about it.

Hope's curiosity started to take over as she continued to stare at it. _'Don't do it Hope.'_ She tells herself. She stares at the old carved letter with her bottom lip between her teeth. She chewed on the corners of it as she continued to stare at it with curiosity filling her eyes. _'Okay, maybe just a peek.'_

She bent down to her knees and slowly reached into the drawer. She carefully pulled the top of the box off and it surprisingly came off easily, as if it wanted her to open it and see what was inside. She furrowed her eyebrows down when she saw that there was nothing more in the box but old letters. "Hmm..." She thinks out loud while reaching for one of the letters.

"What are you doing?" The sudden appearance of Vilkas's voice made Hope gasp and quickly stand. "Nothing!" She spoke with panic in her voice as she spun around to face him. Vilkas eyed her face for a moment and then she watched his eyes move down to her hand. A deep frown formed on Vilkas's face as anger began to show in his eyes.

Hope's fingers curled around the metal lid as she remembered it was there. She had completely forgotten that she still had a hold of it. She silently cursed herself as Vilkas flicked his eyes back up to her face and started to march over to her. _'Well I'm dead.'_

Vilkas stops right in front of her and yanks the lid right out of her hand. He then angrily held it up. "You were going through my stuff?!" He shouted making her wince like she was expecting a fist to come at her. She then quickly shook her head while moving out of his way as fast as she could. "No I wasn't! I promise!" She yelled in defense.

Vilkas quickly looked down to the open metal box and felt a fire rise inside him. He quickly looked back to Hope and walked towards her just as she backed away from him. "Liar!" He accused with a finger pointed at her. "I'm not lieing! I promise!" She said with her hands defensively raised in the air.

Vilkas watched fear and panic appear on Hope's face, so he forced himself to calm down. He slowly looked away from her and took deep breaths. Hope slowly lowered her hands back down as she watched him. "Okay." He spoke through clenched teeth. He looked back at her and she could tell he was trying his best to remain calm. "What were you doing then?" He asked.

"I was looking for paper." She answered. "Paper?" He questioned with his eyebrows knit together. Hope quickly nods. "Kodlak told me that you might have some, so I was just looking..." She explained with her eyes falling to the floor. Vilkas stares at her for a moment and then lets out a sigh while turning back towards the dresser.

He bends over to place the lid back on top of the metal box and then closes the drawer. "Why didn't you just come ask me for some?" He asked with his hands remaining on the closed drawer. "I should have asked...I'm sorry." Hope apologized with her eyes remaining on the floor. She realized that she had just hit a sensitive spot of Vilkas's. It reminded her of the time he mentioned her not having a mother and she remembered getting hurt and angry like he did just now.

Suddenly she hears a chair being dragged across the floor. She looks up and sees that Vilkas had dragged his chair over to the dresser. She watched him step on it with one foot to lift himself to the top of the dresser. It surprised her that he would need something to get to the top of the dresser with being how tall he was. He quickly grabbed a few pieces of paper and stepped down from the chair.

He turned back towards Hope and held the papers out. "Here." He said in a calmer voice than she expected. She slowly took the papers from him while moving her eyes back down to the floor. "Thank you." She said in a soft voice. She heard a sigh leave Vilkas as he walked around her and sat down on his bed. "You can use my inkwell and pen if you need to." He said with his fingers running through his thick hair.

"Thank you." She said again while making her way to his desk. She grabs the inkwell and pen and then leaves his room in a hurry. Vilkas sighs again when he hears the door shut behind Hope. He leaned forward with his head bowed and his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't mean to lose his temper like that, he just did and that made him feel bad. She didn't know what it was or what it meant to him, he shouldn't of gotten mad at her like that. _'I'll apologize to her later...or just pretend it didn't happen.'_ He sighs again while falling back into his mattress.

Hope had quickly made her way down the hall, she wanted to spread as much distance between them as she could, but only because of the guilt she was feeling. She wasn't angry at his outburst, in fact she understood it. Who knows what that box and the letters inside meant to him, she had no right to try and go through it.

She lets out a heavy sigh as she sits herself down at a small round table. She placed the paper and inkwell as well as the pen, down on the table and then scooted herself closer to it. She grabbed one of the papers and neatly laid it out in front of her. She then grabbed the pen and carefully dipped it in the ink. _'Okay, here we go.'_ She readies herself while pressing the tip of the pen down on the paper.

Time passes by Hope and she's not sure how much. She only knows that it's been long enough for a pool of ink to spill out from the tip of the pen and on to the paper. Now that pool was dry and so was the pen.

She stares down at the paper with a blank look on her face. She blinks a couple of times while continuing to stare down at the dry spot of ink. She had no idea what to write, she had no idea what to tell them or what she should tell them. Should she tell them where she is? What she is doing? Should she keep it subtle and only tell them that she's fine and misses them? But then they'll wonder why she hasn't visited them if she missed them so much.

Hope frustratingly places the pen into the inkwell and then leans back in her chair with both hands rubbing her eyes. She didn't realize how hard it was going to be. _'Maybe I should just send them coin with out any letter.'_ But if she did that then they may not use the coin for fear of where it came from.

She lets out an irritated sigh as she moves her hands over her face. "Why is this so hard..." She mumbled into her palms. "What's hard?" She jumps -yet again- from Vilkas's sudden appearance. She nearly falls out of her chair but she stops herself by grabbing the table.

She then looks up and sees Vilkas standing beside her with his arms crossed. "I was just...uh..." She tries to explain with her hand rubbing the back of her neck. She didn't want to tell him what she was really doing but at the moment, she couldn't think of something else to tell him. So instead she just sighs, dropping her hand back into her lap while staring down at the paper in front of her.

"You never cleaned yourself up." Vilkas said, changing the subject. Hope looked back up at him with a lifted eyebrow and saw him eyeing her still injured face. "I guess I forgot about it." She said with a shrug as she looked back down at the table. Vilkas lifted an eyebrow at her while tilting his head to get a better look at her face.

"Come on." He said as he turned his back to her. "Huh?" Hope questioned with furrowed eyebrows as she looked back up at him. "I'll help you get cleaned up." He said while looking at her over his shoulder. Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him, questioning what he meant by that. "Oh get your head out of the gutter. I mean only your face." He said with his eyes rolling.

"I can get it later." She said while turning back towards the table and reaching for the pen. A sigh leaves Vilkas as he turns back around and approaches Hope again. He grabs her hand that was reaching for the pen and pulls her up out of the chair. "Hey! What are you doing?!" She questioned while trying to stop him from dragging her down the hall, but she couldn't. He was just too strong.

"If you don't clean up your wounds, they'll only get worse and take more time to heal." He said while continuing to drag her down the hallway. Hope let out an annoyed groan but followed him to his room anyway.

When they entered his room, Vilkas immediately sat Hope down on to his bed. "I'm going to go get some water and rags." He told her while turning towards the door. But before he went through it, he slightly turns to her and points a finger at her. "Stay." He said in a stern voice, as if he was speaking to a child. Hope quickly scoffed at him and looked away. She heard a small chuckle leave him when he left the room.

While Hope sat there in his room alone, her eyes slowly wondered over to the third drawer in his dresser. She wasn't going to open it, she didn't want to. She just stared at it, feeling more guilt about it then she did before. Vilkas's approaching footsteps made her quickly look away and look up at the ceiling as if she was lost in thought.

"Okay." Vilkas said to himself as he grabbed his chair and dragged it to Hope. He placed it right in front of her and sat himself down in it. He had a large silver bowl in his hand that had clear water in it and a couple of rags laying over the side of it. He grabs one of the rags and dips part of it into the water.

Vilkas gently grabs her chin and slightly turns her face to the side so that he can see her busted open cheek. She watched him lean in close to her from the corner of her eyes and then winced when she felt the rag press down on her cheek. "It's cold." She complained. "Sorry, didn't want to go all the way upstairs for warm water. So, you get cold water." He told her. Hope rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "How sweet." She mumbled.

He chuckled in response as he continued to clean up her cheek. He had to press down fairly hard to get the dried blood of her face and he apologized each time because each time he did it, she would suck in a sharp breath of air from the pressure it caused on her bruises. "This is why you don't wait so long to clean your wounds." He told her. "Yeah, yeah." She replied with a smart mouth.

When Vilkas finished up with that side of her face, he moved to her nose and had to do the same thing. But luckily, it wasn't as sensitive as her cheek was and surprisingly, it wasn't as bad with how many times she head-butt that guy and all. He moved on from her nose to the rest of her face, which was mostly just dirt and bruises.

"Listen..." He said, breaking the silence between them. Hope moved her eyes back to him as he began to place a small bandage on her busted open cheek. "I want to apologize for earlier..." He said while clearing his throat. "I shouldn't of lost my temper like that, you didn't know what it was so it wasn't right for me to do so." He told her with a small frown full of regret.

"You don't have to apologize." She told him. "No, I do." He said with sigh as he placed another small bandage over her nose. "I lost control of my emotions, which is something you should never do." He said as he placed the bowl of water on to the floor next to his chair. "It's okay to sometimes though." Hope said, bringing his eyes back up to her.

He lifted an eyebrow up at her, questioning what she meant by that. "I mean, not everything in life is a battle. So, you don't have to be a stone wall all the time." She said with a small smile. "If you don't show a little emotion then no one will ever know what you're feeling, no one will ever know what you like and don't like."

"It was scary at first, earlier. I will admit that, but if you hadn't shown such distress and anger, then I never would of known how you felt about it and would of probably tried to keep looking at it." She said with her eyes moving down to the floor. "Actually, the more I think about it the more I realize how much I kinda liked seeing you like that. Seeing you let your wall down and show some kind of emotion, because frankly Vilkas...I think you spend too much time being a stone wall..." She admitted in a soft whisper.

Vilkas sat there, in his chair staring at her for a moment. He was shocked to hear her admit something deep like that, especially something deep about him. A strong silence hangs in the air between them but it's soon broken by a chuckle. Vilkas's chuckle. Hope slightly shifts her eyes up at him and watches him rub his eyes with his fingers. "I'm sure others would agree with you." He says in a laugh.

He then lets out a sigh as he gets up from his chair and grabs it, dragging it back to its place at his desk. "You're better off with me being a stone wall, trust me." He said with a sigh. Hope fully looks up at him and blinks at him in confusion. "Why? What do you mean?" She asks. Vilkas just stands there for a moment, keeping his back to Hope.

He taps a finger on the top of the chair while staring down at his messy desk. He then lets go of the chair and turns back towards Hope with a small smile. "So, you going to tell me why you needed the paper?" He asked, completely changing the subject. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him and then quickly looked away. "No.." She answered.

"Why not?" He asked while walking back over to her. He then plopped down on to his bed, right next to her. "Because it's non of your business..." She mumbled. "Really? You want to talk about other peoples businesses?" He questioned with a smirk and lifted eyebrow.

 _'Should of known he'd hold it over me...'_ She thought to herself with an irritated sigh. She looks back at him and meets his eyes with her own. Her eyes widen a bit when she realizes how close he actually was to her, but he didn't seem to notice, or perhaps he was just pretending not to notice.

Hope quickly looks back away from him and clears her throat. "I was just writing a letter...or letters. I haven't decided yet." She said with a sigh. "Oh?" Vilkas questioned with a lifted eyebrow. "Who are you writing to?" He pried. Hope lets out a small groan as she keeps her eyes away from him, she didn't really want to tell him, but she knew she wasn't going to get out of this till she did give him an answer.

"Family?" He asks before she can tell him. "Maybe..." She mumbled while kicking her feet back and forth from his bed. "Hmm..." Vilkas thinks out loud while staring at her. She turns her head to him and looks back at him. She furrows her eyebrows down as she watches him stare at her intensely. "What?" She finally asks.

"Just trying to figure it out." He said with a small shrug and smile. "Earlier, you looked bothered and I heard you say something about it being hard." He said. "Is it hard to write them a letter because you left without them knowing?" He asks.

Hope stares at him with wide eyes. She couldn't believe how spot on he was. "I'm good at reading things." Vilkas said with a cocky smile. Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down and gave him a small shove. "You only read one thing right." She said with her arms crossing over her breasts.

"So there's more to it then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe..." She mumbled again. Vilkas stared at her in silence for a moment. He wasn't sure if he should pry anymore than he already has. To be honest, he didn't read anything about her situation earlier, he just guessed that because he remembered her first day here, she was keen on keeping where she was from a secret, he had guessed as to why but never asked her about it. He didn't want to, until now.

"It's just hard because..." She starts to explain and that surprises him. He didn't expect her to tell him more about it. "I don't know what to say to them. I can't say that I miss them because then they'll wonder why I left in the first place, I can't tell them where I am because I fear that they'll come back for me and I know if they do, I'll most likely go with them and I can't tell them how well things are going and how happy I am because then they'll think that I wasn't happy with them and hated being there." He can hear her voice break a little towards the end and that really takes him by surprise.

He feels a strong urge to comfort her and before he even realizes it, he's giving into that urge by placing a comforting hand on the top of her leg. The action surprised her, He felt her leg muscles tense beneath his hand and he watched her look down at his hand with surprised eyes.

"If you don't let them hear from you, then they'll really think you left because of them." He said in a soft voice. His advice took them both by surprise, she didn't expect it and he really didn't expect it either. But he just said it, he didn't think about it. It just came out on it's own. "Or they'll think something bad happened to you or worse, they'll think you abandoned them and they'll resent you for it."

More advice he didn't know he had, but he knew it was advice she needed to hear. He could see the realization appear in her eyes. Hope quickly looked down and shifted her eyes to the side, he could tell she was in deep thought and while she was, he moved his own eyes to the drawer he kept that metal box in.

He then removes his hand from Hope's leg and gets up from the bed. She looks up and watches him walk over to the dresser. He stands there, looking down at the third drawer for a moment. Then he hesitantly opens it and picks up the metal box. He walks back over to Hope and sits back down beside her.

"If I show you this, I need you to promise me you won't tell anybody about it. Not even Farkas." He said with a serious voice. Hope stares at him for a moment and then nods. Vilkas takes in a deep break and slowly removes the lid off the box. "This metal box once belonged to my...to a man named Jergen." He said while placing the lid down on the bed beside him.

"If you ask Farkas about him, he'll tell you that he was our father and raised us like happy pups here at Jorrvaskr. But the truth is, he brought us here and left us here. He left to go fight in the Great War and never returned." He explained as he carefully picked up one of the old letters that was inside the box.

"Was he your father though?" She asked. Vilkas scoffed as he placed the letter back into the box. "I don't know if you can call someone a father who left his children." He mumbled quietly. He didn't think Hope heard, but she did heard and she was surprised to hear it. Once again, Vilkas's stone wall was crumbling and she was getting a glimpse of him.

"You said he never returned...does that mean he died in the war?" She asked with her eyes slowly moving down to the letters. "I don't know, and I don't care." He answered angrily as he picked the lid back up and started to place it back on to the box. But Hope stopped him, she grabbed his hand that was holding on to the lid with her hand and slowly reached for one of the letters inside.

He didn't stop her, he just looked away. Hope slowly picked up the letter that Vilkas had just sat down and began to read it. She expected it to be a letter from his father, a letter full of false promises, but it wasn't. It was a letter that Vilkas had wrote to his father. In it, Vilkas told him how much they were getting along with everyone and how bad Farkas was at reading. It was mostly just babbling and letting him know how things were going.

She picked up another letter and this one Vilkas explained how annoying it was that Farkas kept asking when he would return and at the end of the letter, Vilkas asks his father himself when he will return.

Hope skims through several of the letters, first they get emotional. Vilkas starts to tell him how much he misses him in each letter but soon they become angrier and shorter. One of them even told him to not return because Vilkas explained how they were better off with out him. Hope pursed her lips together as she slowly placed the letters back into the box. "Did you not send these?" She asked, bringing her eyes back up to him.

"No, I did." He said with his eyes still away from Hope. Hope feels her heart drop in her chest and a sudden sadness rise inside her. She can't imagine what it must of been like for him as a child to never recieve a letter back from his father. "Maybe he did write letters but could never send them because of the war." She said, trying to comfort him, but he just shakes his head.

"I received that box, years later after the war. A man delivered it to Kodlak and he gave it to me. When I saw only my letters inside and non of his...well let's just say..I had the answer I was always looking for, I never did tell Farkas about it. Couldn't bring myself to." He said with a sigh. He slowly brings his eyes back to the box and stares at the letters inside. "When I received this box, I assumed he had died in the war but I still don't know for sure."

"I'm sure he would of let you know if he was alive." She said. Vilkas scoffed. "I doubt it." He replied while sliding the metal lid back on to the box. Hope watched Vilkas get up from the bed and followed him with her eyes to his dresser. He placed the box back into the drawer and then closed it. "Anyways." He sighed.

"You should write to your family." He told her as he turned back around to face her. "I told you that story and showed you what was inside, because you don't want to have them resent you and disown you like I did my father." He explained as he walked back over to her. "So go, go write them a couple of letters. Tell them that you're fine and that you think about them, let them know that they're not forgotten."

Hope's heart breaks when he says that word. _'Forgotten.'_ Has he really felt that way all of those years? The very thought of her little sisters feeling abandoned and forgotten made her heart shatter and made tears weld up in her eyes. The thought of her father thinking he didn't do enough and that it was his fault that she left made her just want to die.

So, she quickly wipes the forming tears away from eyes and gets up from the bed. But before she leaves, she slowly approaches Vilkas. He furrows his eyebrows down at her in confusion and watched her cautiously, just wondering what she was doing. He's taken by surprise when he finds her soft lips planted on his cheek.

She did it in a swift motion so that he couldn't stop her or step away, as if he actually would. The spot on his cheek where her lips were pressed tingled, it was a sensation he had longed for, but just didn't know it till now.

Now he wants to feel it elsewhere, he wants to feel her lips pressed against his and feel that sensation spread across them. But before he could even begin to try, she pulls away and steps back from him. Vilkas looks at her with clouded eyes and his eyebrows knit together. "Thank you Vilkas. I know what to write them now." She said softly with a smile spread across her lips.

He watches her turn away from him and leave his room. When the door shuts and he's sure that she's gone, he slowly brings his hand up to the spot she kissed and touches it with his first two fingers. The tingling feeling was fading away fast but it was being replaced with another feeling, a feeling that fluttered through out his whole body and it was something he's never felt before.


	19. Chapter 19

_"To my Father, Sissel, and Britte._

 _It's been a month since I've left home and every day since I've thought nothing but you three. I know it must of been a shock to discover me gone and I don't blame you if you resent me for it, which is why I am writing to you. I am writing to you so I can explain why I left and clear any questions you may have asked yourselves. I left because I believed it was my time to start my own life, my own journey._

 _I know that sounds selfish and I'll understand if you, my dear sisters, can't forgive me for it. Even though you may not be able to forgive me and even though you might hate me, I want you to know that I carry you in my hearts, I carry you in my thoughts and I go to sleep with your smiles in my head. Another reason why I've decided to write to you is because I want you to know that I'm safe and am doing well._

 _It's best if I don't mention where I am but know that I am not far and if you ever need aid or if Riverwood ever needs aid, I will come. When given this letter, you will also be given a coin purse, it's coin I've earned on my journey and I give it to you so you can use it for whatever you may need._

 _Sissel, I want you to remember to be tough and to not be afraid to stand up to your sister. Britte, I want you to remember to be nice to your sister and to remember to always stay close to each other. I also want you both to remember to eat right and help Father around the house. Also, tell Erik that I'm no longer mad at him and tell him I hope he grows a pair while I'm gone._

 _Stay safe and Stay well-Yours truly, Liah."_

"Hope, are you paying attention?" Aela's voice knocks Hope out of her thoughts. She blinks and then looks a head to where Aela was standing. It's been three days since Hope wrote that letter and gave it to the courier, she's been doing nothing but thinking about what she's wrote to them.

Before she sent it, she re-read it several times to make sure it sounded okay and in doing so, she memorized it. Towards the end of the letter she nearly put the name Hope down instead of her real name. She couldn't believe that she's almost forgotten her real name.

"Hey!" Aela's voice snaps her out of it again. Hope blinks several times again, forcing her thoughts away so that she can focus. Aela was now standing in front of her with her arms crossed. "What's with you today?" She asks with her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" Hope replies with an embarrassed smile.

"You've been out of it all day, is there something on your mind?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. "No." Hope quickly shakes her head. "Sorry, I'll focus now, promise!" She said while she unequipped her bow.

Her and Aela had been training all morning, or at least trying to. Like Aela had said, she's been out of it all day so they've had to keep stopping because Aela had to keep re-explaining everything. "Alright." Aela sighed while turning away from Hope and walking back to the targets.

Aela had her shooting a different type of target that morning. Instead of using the normal large circular one, she's been making her shoot at the ones shaped like people. Each time she has Hope ready an arrow, she explains the vital points of the human body and has her aim at those spots. She's hit a few of them but the rest, her arrows would fly by the target or land on a different spot.

"I want you to land an arrow here." Aela instructed with her finger pointed at the throat of the dummy. Hope nodded and readied her arrow, she pulled it back the farthest she could and focused on that one spot. In her mind she envisioned the target was an actual person and they were running towards her with a sword held high in the air.

The running person in her mind would most likely be doing their best to avoid her arrows, so she needs to think how she would time her shots. She would watch their footing as they ran towards her and then eye the spot she was aiming for. In her mind, she sees an opening when one of their feet steps down on the ground. That's when she releases her arrow, in her head she sees the arrow landing in the exact spot she was aiming for because of the way they landed their next step, but in reality it was just a dummy that stood still. But to her liking, the arrow actually landed on the spot she was aiming for.

Hope smiles as she lowers her bow and examines the arrow. Aela walks closer to the dummy and yanks out the arrow. It pleases Hope when she saw that Aela had to pull harder than last time to get it out. "Nicely done, if this were a real person, they would of bled out for sure." She said with a smile on her face.

The training they had been doing all morning was nothing more then shooting arrows, but it was a welcome change to what she had been doing for the last three days.

The last three days, Aela and Farkas both had her doing small jobs left to right. They were simple jobs that consisted of picking mushrooms and flowers for Arcadia, retrieving junk for Belethor, and beating up people that were annoying some other people. She had earned a fair amount of coin from those jobs though, at least from Farkas.

While Farkas was paying her coin for a job well done, Aela was paying her with advice. Advice regarding the bow, armor, and men. She would of preferred not to hear some of things she said about men, but what could she do?

"Alright, lets change it up a bit." She said while dragging more dummies out into the training field. She spread them out and positioned them differently, she was trying to create a scenario with several different enemies. What was strange about it was she was turning all of their backs towards Hope.

Hope watched with a lifted eyebrow. "What are you doing?" She asked. "As you already know, being an archer doesn't mean rushing into the open and attacking." Aela began to explain. "Sometimes you will find yourself having the advantage." Hope raised another eyebrow in question.

Once Aela finished positioning the dummies, she backed away from the created scenario. She nods her head towards the dummies. "For example." She said. "You'll come across enemies that will not be aware of your presence and the smart thing to do, would to keep it that way." She explained. "Of course, you'll have to time it."

"So tell me Hope, which ones do you think should be taken out first?" She asked with a half-smile. Hope stared at Aela for a moment and then turned her attention to the dummies spread out in front of her. She examined their positions and the spots that Aela had put them in. The longer she examined them the more she realized that Aela had not placed them in random order.

The one closest to her was farthest way from from the others. It's back wasn't completely facing her either, instead of doing what she did with the others, Aela positioned that one to where it's right side was facing Hope. As if if were acting like a watch. If she were to alert that one, then it would alert the others.

Hope raises her arm and points towards it. "That one." She said. "Very good." Aela said with a smile. "Now tell me, how would you take it out?" She asked with her half-smile remaining on her face.

Hope raised another eyebrow up at Aela. "With an arrow?" Aela shakes her head in response to that answer, making Hope furrow her eyebrows down at her. "If you shoot him with an arrow, he'll just drop dead." She explained.

"Yeah, so?" Hope questioned. Aela rolled her eyes and then approached the dummy. Then without warning, Aela pushes it down and lets it fall. When it hits the ground it makes a loud **THUD** noise, making everyone outside turn and look at it.

 _'Oh.'_ She gets it now as she looks around at everyone. "By the realization in your eyes, I'd say you understand now." Aela said as she stood the dummy back up. "If not with an arrow, then how?" She asked while watching Aela. "With a blade of course." She said with a smile. Hope questions Aela with a lifted eyebrow.

"Watch." She said with a finger pointed up. Hope keeps her eyebrow raised as she watches Aela walk a few feet away from the dummy. She then watches her lower herself into a crouching position. _'She looks like a frog.'_ She can't help but think to herself with a smirk on her face.

Aela carefully sneaks up behind the dummy and when she closes in on it, she brings out a dagger that she always has strapped to her hip. Hope watches Aela slowly take big steps towards the dummy and then when she's nearly stepping on its heals, she places a hand over where it's mouth would be and slits its throat with her dagger.

Hope blinks widely as she watches Aela slowly lay the dummy down without making any sound what-so-ever. _'Well that was unexpected.'_ Is all she can think while she watches Aela step back from the dummy and place her dagger back in its sheathe. Aela then turns, gives Hope a smile and says. "Like I said before, archery is an art in many different ways."

Hope stares at her for a moment and then looks down at the "dead" dummy on the ground with a contempt expression on her face. "Problem?" Aela asked with a lifted eyebrow. "It just seems so...cut-throat." She tells her with a small frown on her face. "Well...I did cut its throat." Aela joked with a half-smile, but Hope didn't smile back. She just didn't know to feel about it.

In fact, the very thought of stabbing a blade through a living person made her feel uneasy, but she knew she would have to eventually. There's never been a tale or legend told that didn't involve blood, most of the Nord songs included lots of blood actually...

Aela watched worry and unease fill in Hope's eyes and she can't help but pity and envy her. She pitied her because Hope had just begun her journey and she knew very well the emotions that stirred within oneself from slaying the first victim. Her envy for Hope was great, perhaps greater than her pity. Because she also remembered what it was like to just begin and to never think about killing anybody. The innocence of it was really what she envied.

Aela tries to think of something to say to take Hope's mind off such troubling thoughts, but she can't seem to think of anything. She felt guilty for even trying, it was wrong to try and make Hope not worry about those things when she needed to worry about it. She needed to be prepared for it because if she isn't, then she'll die. The very thought of that made Aela's stomach twist into all sorts of knots. She was her trainer, if she died because of false hope that Aela gave her, then it would be her fault and she would never be able to forgive herself.

She opens her mouth to speak but before she can, Skjor approaches them and speaks before she can. "Get used to the thought of it whelp." He said in his usual blunt manner. Aela looked at him with a small glare, but he just ignored her. Hope turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. "Don't give me that look." He said with his arms crossing.

"You chose this life, you chose the path of a sneak and archer. Don't be shocked or bothered when the methods of disposing your enemy are extreme." He said with his usual mean tone. Hope quickly looks away from him while shifting her eyes off to the side. _'He's right, I know he's right but...'_ Her thought trails off as a frown forms on her face.

"Tactfully put." Aela said with a sigh. Skjor turned his head to her with a frown and his eyebrows furrowing but she just frowned and furrowed her eyebrows right back. She was never one to wince or shy away from Skjor like the others did, as if they were pup's beaten by an alpha. "Anyways." Skjor sighs as he looks back to Hope.

"I have a job for you whelp." He said. Hope looks at him with an eyebrow raised as does Aela and they both speak at the same time. "You do?"

Skjor shifts his eyes from Aela and back to Hope. "I do." He said with a nod. "It's going to be different than what you've been doing for the past couple days, not to mention bigger." He said with his arms remaining crossed over his chest. "What is it?" Hope asked with both eyebrows lifted.

"Vilkas will give you the details on the way there." He said. "Vilkas?" She questions with her eyebrows furrowing. A half-smile crept on Skjor's face as he nodded. "That's right."

"Best go and get ready. I want you both on the road before lunch." He said with his head gesturing back towards Jorrvaskr. Hope blinked at Skjor for a moment and then looked over to Aela, who just gave her a nod and a smile when she did. She looked at Skjor one last time and then turned, walking towards Jorrvaskr doing what she was told.

"So." Aela turned to Skjor with an eyebrow raised. "Job with Vilkas huh? What's this about?" She asked with a curious smile. "Just a simple job dealing with bandits." He replied with a shrug. "Simple maybe for you, but not for Hope." She said with her arms crossing over her breasts. "Why do you think I'm having Vilkas go with her?"

Aela cocked another eyebrow up at him. Skjor stared at her for a moment with his usual grumpy frown. A defeated sigh then leaves him as he turns his head away from her. "Kodlak thinks she's ready for the final test." He said with another sigh. Aela raises both eyebrows, completely surprised by his words.

"Is this job the test?" She asks. Skjor shakes his head and replies. "No, it's not. Well I guess it can be, in it's own way." He sighs while rubbing the back of his neck. Aela raised an eyebrow up at him in question.

"Like I said." He turns his head back towards her. "Kodlak thinks she's ready, I'm not so sure,"

"Oh?" Aela questioned. "So is this simple job a test to see if she's ready for the test?" She asked with a small smile. He nodded. "That's right."

"Besides, even if I did think she was ready, she wouldn't be able to do it right now. The job's not fully planned out yet." He said. "So Kodlak already has something set up then?" Aela asked.

"It's only half-way set up." Skjor said with a frown. Something in his voice told Aela he didn't quite have faith in Kodlak in the matter. "Anyways." He sighs. "I figured I could have her do something bigger than she's used to and see how she does. Thought it would be better than having her sit around here waiting or having her do useless crap jobs."

A chuckle escapes Aela, she then clears her throat and asks. "Have you told Vilkas of this job yet?"

"I have, he wasn't thrilled but he agreed to it." He replied. "I bet it took more than simply asking for him to agree to it." Aela smirked. Skjor raised an eyebrow at her and then looked away with a half-grin growing on his face. "I only had to be a little persuasive." He admitted and that earned another chuckle out of Aela.

A deep sigh leaves Vilkas as he ties up his bed roll. He then ties it to the top of his pack and started to stuff some cloths into the pack. He wasn't feeling very excited about this job he was going on. It wasn't the job that he dreaded, it was traveling with Hope, it was being alone with Hope.

He's had trouble controlling himself around Hope before, so he didn't know how he was going to do it on this job. Though part of him dreaded being alone with her, another part of him wanted to be alone with her. In fact, that part of him longed for it. That's what made him so nervous, that part of him that leaped every time he saw her.

A loud knock on his door made him nearly jump right out of his skin. Vilkas hangs his head back with his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose. He slowly lets out a deep sigh as he regains himself. He then lowers his hand away from his face, sets the pack down on his bed, and walks to the door opening it.

It didn't surprise him when he saw that it was Hope who was standing on the other side of the door. He saw that she already had her bow and arrows on her back along with her bag. But he doesn't see any bed roll or water-skin attached to her.

Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down as he looks back to her face. She lifts an eyebrow up in question to the look he was giving her. "Do you not own a bed roll?" He asked. "No? Do I need one?" She asks with both eyebrows knitting together. "Yes." Vilkas said with a sigh.

"Lucky for you, I have an extra one." He tells her while he turns his back to her and makes his way over to a small chest in his room. She watches him kneel down in front of it and then open it to go through it.

When he finds it, he stands back up and rolls it together tightly. He then walks back to Hope and hands it to her. Before taking it from him, she looks down at it curiously with an eyebrow raised. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at her and questions her hesitation. "What?"

"Are we really going somewhere far enough that we'll need these?" She asks with her eyes moving back up to his face. "Yeah." He answers. An excited smile spreads across Hope's face as her eyes sparkle. Vilkas is taken aback by the look on her face. Her smile and sparkling eyes nearly took his breath away. He had never seen such a look on her face before and now that he has, well, hoping he sees more of it would be putting it lightly.

"What are we waiting for then?" Hope's excited voice brought Vilkas out of his thoughts. Then the next thing he knows, she's already out of his sight and walking down the hall. "Let's go!" She cheered happily. Vilkas quickly grabs his bag and then goes after her. "Hold a moment!" He calls to her.

Hope stops in the middle of the hallway and turns, watching him hurriedly approach her. "Let me tie that bed roll to your pack, it'll make it easier to carry." He said with a finger pointed to her bag. "Good idea." She said with a smile. She gives Vilkas the bed roll and then turns around to where her back is facing him.

Vilkas just stands there and examines her for a moment, his eyes trail down her long, deep red pony tail. Before moving it out of the way, he can't help but reach for it and run his fingers through the thick strands of hair. He slowly runs his fingers down the pony tail and when he does, Hope gives off a small shiver.

A small sigh leaves Vilkas as he slowly moves the long pony tail out of the way, laying it over her shoulder. He then places the bed roll on the top of her pack and starts to connect them with a small rope he removed from his pouch. Once he's finished he removes Hope's pony tail from her shoulder and then clears his throat. "There."

"Thanks." She breathed out. Her response was a little surprising and when she turned around to face him with a blush on her cheeks, was really surprising. Just what did it mean? He's been asking himself that for a couple of days now.

Ever since that day he revealed his secret to her, things have been different between them. Not uncomfortably different, just different. Several times they found themselves left alone either outside, downstairs, or in the dining hall and each time felt...intense. At least it did for him.

They would sit in heavy silence for a good long while and then one of them would break it with a small comment or question. It was usually him though and every time he would, she would look at him surprised and then quickly look away. Like she was too nervous to face him or too shy to speak. It was a side of her he's never seen, usually when it came to him, Hope didn't hesitate to speak her mind but lately, somethings changed.

And now, just like before, a heavy silence drifted between them. Vilkas stood there staring at her while she had her head down and eyes shifted away from him. Just what does it mean? That question seems to be never ending and he fears he'll never have an answer to it.

"You two are still here?!" Skjor's loud voice makes them both jump. They both quickly look and see Skjor standing at the bottom of the stairs with Aela beside him. She had her arms crossed, an eyebrow lifted, and a smirk on her face. Vilkas cleared his throat while Hope shifted around uncomfortably.

"We were just leaving." Vilkas replied. "Humph." Skjor exclaimed grumpily. He then walks past them with Aela trailing behind him. When she passes Hope, she gives her a quick wink which makes Hope furrow her eyebrows down. She then hears an annoyed groan leave Vilkas. "Come on." He sighs as he brushes past her. Hope quickly turns and follows after him. "I'll explain the job to you when we get on the road." He said back to her.

Even though he couldn't see it, she replied with a smile and a nod. She couldn't wait to find out where exactly they were going. She was excited but also nervous. She was nervous about the job and for some reason, about Vilkas. The thought of going somewhere far with just him, made her stomach twist into all kinds of knots. Just what did it mean? That question had been bugging Hope just as much as it did Vilkas. A question that seemed to never have an answer.


	20. Chapter 20

**So, I just wanted to let everyone know that I didn't really proof read this chapter because it's super late and I'm super duper tired xC. I did skim over it though, so I hope that was good enough and that it's not too bad. ^_^"**

* * *

"So what's the job?" Hope asked. Her and Vilkas were walking down the road that led from Whiterun, to the horse stables. "Bandits." Vilkas answered. Hope stops walking and turns to face Vilkas with wide, surprised eyes. Vilkas stops as well and looks at her with a questioning cocked eyebrow.

"Really?" She asked in shock. Vilkas nods in response, still with an eyebrow raised. Hope stares at him for a moment and then looks down with her eyes shifting to the side. Now Vilkas's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Is there a problem?" He asked. Hope just stands there with her eyes down.

Then after a few moments of silence, she lifts her head and eyes back up to Vilkas. "No." She finally replied. Vilkas lifts another eyebrow up at her, not quite sure if he believes her or not. "So where are we going?" She asked, changing the subject.

Vilkas stares at her for a moment before turning to continue walking down the road. "The bandit's hide-out is somewhere near Riften." He answered. Hope's eyes widen as an excited smile takes form on her face. She quickly starts to follow after him and asks. "Really? Riften?"

"Yeah, ever been?" He asked. "No, I haven't." She answered with her excited smile remaining on her face.

They both walk down the road a ways in silence till Vilkas comes to a quick stop. "Ah, dammit." He sighs. "What?" Hope asked, stopping next to him. "I was hoping we could take the horse carriage but..." He nods his head forward and then sighs. Hope turns and looks where he is looking and can see a few nicely dressed people standing near the carriage, paying the driver.

"Looks like we're walking." He sighs. "Maybe they're going where we're going?" Hope wondered out loud. "Huh?" Vilkas turns his head to her with his eyebrows furrowed. Hope doesn't answer, she just takes off walking down the road, towards the carriage and people.

When they hear her footsteps approaching, they all turn and face her with curious looks on their faces. Hope stops in front of them and examines them all real quick. The first two standing closest to her was an older man and older woman. The older man had black hair that was slick back and obviously thinning. The older woman had long blonde hair that was graying and that was tied up into a tight knot. She could see wrinkles beneath their eyes and in the corners of their mouths.

Another stood behind them, Hope shifted her eyes and examined him. He was younger than the first two, she guessed he was probably their son. He looked to be around her age and he looked like he was about the same height as Vilkas. He had long blonde hair, the first top of it was tied up in a knot while the rest of it laid around his shoulders. He had baby blue eyes and blonde scruff decorating the lower part of his face.

She didn't realize it till now, but his eyes were on hers and he was watching her examine his features. She blinked a few times at him and watched a charming smile grow on his face. "Can we help you?" The mother finally asked. They had all been standing their awkwardly while Hope just stared at them.

Hope quickly cleared her throat and moved her eyes down to the ground. "I was just wondering where you people might be heading." She said. "Windhelm." The father answered her. "Why do you ask?" The mother asks this time. "Windhelm..." Hope says quietly.

She then turns back to Vilkas and asks. "Is Windhelm on the way to Riften?" Vilkas shakes his head in response. "Ivarstead is." The younger man said, bringing Hope's attention to him.

When her eyes move back to him, she notices that his posture is a lot straighter than just a moment ago and he still had that charming smile on his face. "Are you needing a ride?" He asks with his eyebrows raising. "We are, you said Ivarstead is on the way to Windhelm? Is that a village near Riften?" She asked back.

The young man gave her another smile and a nod. "It's probably about a days walk from Riften, if I had to guess." The young man said. Hope smiles in response to that and then looks back at Vilkas, but when she sees the look on his face, her smile quickly disappears.

He had his brow completely furrowed, and a mean glare in his eyes. His glare wasn't aimed at her though, it was aimed at the man who was speaking to Hope. Vilkas didn't like the way he looked at her every time her eyes would shift away from him.

Hope lifts an eyebrow back at him but he doesn't avert his eyes away from the young man. _'What's with him?'_ She wonders while continuing to stare at him. "So if you want." He speaks again, grabbing Hope's attention.

The young man steps between his parents and stands..rather too close to Hope. "You can ride with us, up until Ivarstead that is." He said with another charming smile. Hope blinks up at him a few times and then looks past him at his parents. They both exchange glances and then look back at Hope. The young man notices where her eyes go, he carefully places a hand on her arm to make her look back up at him. "They don't mind." He said with another smile.

Hope furrows her eyebrows at him and then moves her eyes back to the parents. "If you do need a ride, we'll be glad to share the carriage." The mother said with a false smile. Hope lifts an eyebrow up at the mother and then shifts her eyes to the father who just nods when she does.

She looks back to the obviously spoiled young man, who still has a smile on his face. As if he's sure of what she's going to do. She wasn't sure what she should do, she didn't feel right about this. It just seemed too weird, but they would only have to ride with them to Ivarstead. After that, they would never have to see them again.

So, with that decided, she gives the young man a believable sweet smile while also batting her eye lashes. "How sweet of you to offer." She said in a purr, which made the young man quickly stand up straight and puff his chest out. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing at such a sight. "It would so rude of us to refuse your kind offer, so we accept." She said with a small nod from her head.

"Great!" The young man exclaimed happily. Then, in a swift moment, he grabs Hope's hand and bends over it, but stops. He then lifts his head up and looks her in the eyes. "May I have your name, my lady?" He asked with a half-grin. "Hope." She said with a believable giggle. "Beautiful." He breathed and then laid a small kiss on the top of her hand. Hope cocked an eyebrow in response. "And yours is?" She questions.

The young man gave her another smile as he let go of her hand and stood straight back up. "You may call me Aren." He said with a small bow from his head.

"Folks, we going or what?" The driver called back to them. Aren looked back at his parents who were already climbing into the carriage. Hope looks back at Vilkas who remained in the same spot but with his arms crossed this time. She then turns back to Aren. "Just give me a minute." She said with her index finger raised.

Aren gave her a smile and small nod. Hope quickly turns around and heads back to Vilkas. "You do that a lot?" He suddenly asks. Hope lifts an eyebrow up at him and responds. "Do what?"

"The fake smiles and batting your eyelashes."

"Oh." Hope clears her throat and looks down. "You saw that?" She asked while drawing in the dirt with the tip of her boot. Vilkas scoffs and looks away. "It was hard not to." He replied. "Really had him wrapped around your finger didn't you?" He accused.

Hope scoffs as she looks back up at him. "It got us a ride to Ivarstead, didn't it?" She said with her arms crossed. "I think I'd rather walk." Vilkas mumbled with his eyes shifting away from her. She wrinkles her nose up at him and then turns on her heels to head back for the carriage. "Fine, you walk. I'll ride with _Aren._ " She said his name in a dreamy tone that made Vilkas scoff again.

Vilkas shifted his eyes back to Hope and watched her approach Aren with a sway to her hips. He quickly furrowed his eyebrows down and scoffed as he watched the young man's eyes light up when she got near him. _'Unbelievable.'_

"After you." Said Aren as he stepped to the side to let Hope get on the carriage. She gave him a small giggle and then climbed right on. Aren was going to get on right after her and try to take a seat next to her, but a strong grip on his shoulder pulling him back, stopped him.

He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw Vilkas there with a mean glare in his eyes. Aren cleared his throat and quickly got out of his way. "And after you, of course." He said with a small nod towards the carriage. "Hmph." Vilkas exclaimed as he climbed up into the carriage and took a seat next to Hope.

When he did, he slid himself right into her, making her scoot over to the edge of the carriage so that there was no more room near her for anyone to sit. As Aren climbed into the carriage, he shifted his eyes to Vilkas with a lifted eyebrow and then took a seat on the opposite side of the carriage, right across from Hope.

Tension rose quickly between the two men as they both met eye contact and continued to stare at each other. Both of the parents looked in the opposite direction from them, while Hope kept her eyes down and hands firmly planted on the top of her legs. "Alright girl, let's go." The driver said as he moved the straps that were connected to the horse. Right on his command, the horse starts to move, getting them started on their journey. _'This is going to be a long ride...'_ Hope thinks herself with a small, quiet sigh.

The day went on as they all rode in the carriage. Hope and Aren exchanged small talk while Vilkas and Aren's parents sat in silence. "So tell my dear lady." Aren said with another one of his charming smiles. "If you don't mind me asking that is, what business might you have in Riften?" He asked.

"That's non of your business." Vilkas answers instead of Hope. He was leaning back against the wall of the carriage with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. Aren looked at him with a lifted eyebrow. Hope quickly elbows him in the side but all that does is hurt her elbow from hitting his steel armor. She hissed as she rubbed the sore joint.

Vilkas shifted his eyes to the side at her with an eyebrow raised. "We have a job in that area." She tells him. "A job?" Aren questions with an eyebrow raised and curious smile. Hope smiles as well and nods. "We're Companions." She told him proudly.

Aren's eyes widened as did his smile. "Really?" He asked in surprise. Hope nods again with the same proud smile on her face. "I had no idea a Companion could be so beautiful." He said with a charming smile. "If I had known, well I would of joined ages ago."

Hope giggled in response. She didn't know what else to do. She could hear Vilkas mumble something under his breath but she didn't know what. She slightly shifted her eyes up to him and saw that he was looking away, out into the distance. He was trying to convince her that he wasn't listening and that he didn't care, but she didn't buy it.

"So, if you'll indulge me, I have another question." Aren said, bringing Hope's eyes back to him. "You two are doing this job together, are you two perhaps... _together_?" He asked with his hand motioning between Vilkas and Hope.

Hope's eyebrows shot up while Vilkas quickly snapped his head towards Aren. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it till now, but Vilkas's arm and leg were pressed against hers. When she realized that, she swore she could feel the side of her arm and leg growing warm as well as the sides of her cheeks.

"Is that a joke?" Vilkas's sneer on his face was so great, she could hear it in his voice. Hope's eyebrows drop as does her heart. She quickly looks up at him with her eyebrows remaining furrowed. "I'd rather bed a troll before this one." He said with a nudge of his head in Hope's direction.

Unconsciously, her jaw drops as she continues to stare at Vilkas. He could feel her eyes burning into him, but he refused to look at her. "Well that was uncalled for." Aren said with his eyebrows raised. "What would put such a thought in your head?" Vilkas asked in a mean tone.

"Well..because of how close you two are sitting together." He replied with his eyes shifting down to the little space between Vilkas and Hope. Vilkas's muscles tensed as he scooted only a couple of inches away from her.

Aren shifts his eyes over to Hope, who was looking down at the carriage floor with her eyebrows furrowed and a small frown on her face. "You know." He said, bringing her eyes back up to him. When she looks at him, she sees him scoot over to the right a bit so that there was room between him and the edge of the carriage. "If you'd like someone more pleasant to sit next to." He said with a hand motioning the empty seat next to him.

Hope looked down at the empty space and then slightly looked up at Vilkas. He was looking away from them both, but she could tell that he was tense. She could see it in his neck muscles. "I think that's a good idea." She purred, making Vilkas snap his head towards her. By the time he looked at her she was already sitting next to Aren.

A frown formed on his face as he saw them both smile at each other, his blood boiled when he saw her bat her eyelashes up at him. He knew she was only doing that to spite him and anger him. He knew it was payback for what he said and to be honest, he didn't blame her one bit for doing it.

The moment he had said what he did, he felt regret but it was already out there and he couldn't take it back. So he knew he had no right to be angry with her for wanting to sit next to Aren and not him him but that didn't keep his blood from boiling when he saw Aren stretch an arm out behind her, acting like he was resting it on the back of the carriage when really he moved it to be around her shoulders.

He watched the sides of her cheeks glow a faint pick as a small giggle left her. _'Just what does she think she's doing?'_ The frown on his face deepend as did the anger inside him. "So tell me my dear, I can't help but be curious. Is there any man in the world lucky enough to call you theirs?"

"I'm afraid not." She said with her head shaking. "Is that so?" He said with a grin slowly forming on his face. The sound of his voice was different from just a moment ago, it changed into something else. As if there was a thought with it. Hope looked up into his eyes with her eyebrows knit together in confusion and when she saw the look in his eyes, she shivered. But not the kind of shiver you would expect or want.

She quickly looked down and away from him while wiping the sweat off the palms of her hands on the top of her legs. A great tension had build up in that moment and it wasn't between her and Aren. It was between him and VIlkas. Aren had his eyes till on Hope while Vilkas glared at him deeply. His eyes were dark as was the feeling inside him.

The beast inside him lunging at his surface, telling him, no, demanding him to do something. Demanding him to break that mans arm and throw him out of the carriage. But he didn't, no matter how much he wanted to and gods...he wanted to.

When they first left Jorrvaskr together, Vilkas was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself around Hope but now he fears he won't be able to control himself and the beast inside him around this man.

He can sense Hope's unease and discomfort, so he looks over to her, trying to think of an excuse to have her come sit back next to him and be away from Aren. Vilkas thinks as he continues to stare at her and smiles when he thinks of something. He grabs his bag from the floor of the carriage and digs through it. He then pulls out a rolled up map and unrolls it on his lap.

"Hope." He said as he looked back up to her. She quickly looks over to him, hoping he has a reason to get her out of that situation and lucky for her, he does. "I didn't properly go over the plans with you about this job so I think it would be a good idea if you came over here, so I can show you what I have in mind." He said with his finger tapping the map.

A smile quickly spreads across Hope's face as she jumps up from her seat and quickly makes her way over next to Vilkas. She sits back down beside him in the same spot and to her liking, Vilkas scooted closer to her so that there was barely any space between them, just like before. Aren watched with a cocked eyebrow and then cleared his throat to grab both of their attentions. "Well, don't let me bother you." He said with a crooked smile.

"Don't worry, I won't." Vilkas said with a quick glare showing in his eyes. Aren's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at that, but Vilkas just looks back down at the map and starts to very quietly, make up plans with Hope. It was all non sense really but they both wanted to keep it up so that there was no room for anyone to speak to either of them.

They continued on like that for quite some time, which meant they quickly ran out of ridiculous ideas for a plan. So they both just remained slouched over the map and made very quiet small talk. They did that for a couple of hours but it didn't feel like it had been that long to Hope. She didn't even notice that the sun was already beginning to drift behind the mountains.

"So, how much longer till we get to Ivarstead?" Hope asked quietly, still slouched over the map. "Awhile." Vilkas sighed. "But the good news is that we're probably about half way there." He said.

Hope sighed. "I don't know how much longer I can sit like this." She whispered. "Me too." Vilkas chuckled. She rested an elbow on her knee and then rested her chin on the palm of her hand. Vilkas had his body turned towards her and had both elbows resting on his knees. Since they were both slouching towards each other, their heads were basically touching but Hope didn't care and neither did Vilkas.

Hours ago Hope felt hurt by Vilkas's words but now she wasn't even sure if she remembered them. Vilkas did though, he kept on thinking about them and every time he did, regret would rise up inside him and stab him in the heart. _'I should really apologize for saying that.'_ Is what he kept telling himself but he has yet to do it.

Occasionally, Hope would feel eyes on her and she knew that they were Aren's but she refused to look at him. She knew if she did he would try and start up a conversation that she would never be able to get out of. It was her own fault really and she knew that, now she had to just try and keep her eyes away from him and get through the long ride.

Another hour passed and the sky was now quickly growing dark. Her and Vilkas both ran out of things to say so they just sat there in silence with their eyes on the map. Every once in a while everyone would hear a stomach growl but no one would say anything about it. Especially Hope, since it was her stomach growling.

Skjor had rushed them out of Jorrvaskr so fast that she didn't have a chance to eat lunch and now it was way past dinner time and she didn't want to eat while riding in the carriage. For fear that the bumps on the road would cause her to make a mess with her food.

She let out a sigh as she finally sat back up straight. She immediately leaned back against the carriage's wall and laid her head back over the edge of it. She couldn't sit in that position a second longer, her body ached so much she no longer cared if it meant having Aren talk to her again.

It seemed like Vilkas was going through the same thing because the moment Hope leaned back, he did. She heard a small groan escape him as he stretched back. "Whoa." The driver said to his horse as he pulled on the straps to make it come to a stop. Vilkas and Hope both looked at the driver at the same time with questioning looks.

"What are you doing?" Aren's mother asked. "It's getting dark, I can hardly see the road." The driver answered. "So, what? We just camp here?" Aren's father asked this time. They could all hear the annoyed tone in his voice. "Yep." The driver answered plainly as he got down from his seat.

"Probably for the best." Vilkas said as he got up from his seat. Hope got up along side him and watched as he picked up both of their bags. She then turned and was the first to get off the carriage, after her was Vilkas, then Aren, and then Aren's parents.

Before long the driver and Vilkas both had a fire built and lit. Aren's parents had put a nicely sized tent for them while Aren set up his own tent. Hope watched with furrowed eyebrows and then began search her and Vilkas's bags.

Neither one of them had packed a tent. "Vilkas." Hope hissed. Vilkas quickly looked up at her from the fire and lifted an eyebrow. She made her way over to him with both of their bags in hand. "You didn't pack a tent?" She asked. Vilkas sat there for a moment, staring up at her with a blank look on her face.

 _'Shit.'_ He had completely forgotten to bring a tent. He was so lost in his thoughts back then that he didn't even think about it. At least he remembered the bed rolls. "Who needs a tent when you have a sky full of stars above you." He said with a cheap smile. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she stared at that smile.

"I'd say that too if I forgot to pack a tent." Aren said with a chuckle. Vilkas quickly looked past Hope, at Aren with his eyebrows furrowed. He was standing outside his newly put up tent with his arms proudly crossed over his chest. His tent was tall and made out of some kind of thick material. It looked like it was made specifically to keep the cold out.

"If you like." He started to say as he approached Hope. "You can stay in my tent with me tonight. Might get cold." He said with a sly smile. It was tempting but there was no way Hope was going to. She would rather sleep in the cold than share a tent with him. "I have an extra." The driver said.

They all looked over to him and watched him pull out the extra packed tent from behind his seat on the carriage. "I always carry an extra one just in case. It's not very big but it's better than nothing." He said with a small shrug.

A wave of relief washed over Hope as she gave a thankful smile to the driver. "I guess we can use it." Vilkas said with a sigh, acting as if it was bother to sleep in a tent rather than outside. He gets up from the fire and walks to the driver to take the packed tent from him.

He picked a nice spot for their tent on the opposite side of the fire, away from everyone else. It didn't take him long to set it up and just like the driver said, it was small. When Vilkas unrolled their bed rolls inside the tent, they were right up against each other but there was nothing he could do about it, so they would just have to deal.

He let out a sigh as he stood back up and looked down at the two bed rolls. _'Great.'_ Was all he could think. Hope walked over to their tent and when she saw how small and cramped it was on the inside, just like Vilkas, she too became nervous.

She quickly cleared her throat as she sat her armor down on the ground next to her bag. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows when he heard her iron chest-piece hit the ground. He looked over to her and saw at some point, she had taken off her armor and changed into a long sleeved button-up top and brown pants.

It was the same outfit she wore when she first met Vilkas, looking at it made the memories flash in his mind. He remembered how much he hated her that day, it felt strange to him that it had only been a little over a month since then and it was also strange how much his feelings have changed for her. Feelings that he still didn't understand.

"Why did you change?" He asked with his eyebrows remaining furrowed. Hope looked at him with a lifted eyebrow. "Because I didn't want to sleep in iron and chain-mail. I hate wearing this thing on a daily basis so why would I sleep in it?"

"Good point." Vilkas sighed. He started to remove his own armor, staring with his gauntlets. He always wore a shirt and cloth pants underneath his armor so he didn't need to go somewhere private to change. While he did that, Hope quickly sat down in front of their tent and started to quickly dig through her bags. When she pulled out one of her wrapped loafs of bread and salted meat, her mouth immediately began to water.

She has her food unwrapped in mere seconds and is already taking bites out of it. She tore her bread in half and placed the salted meat in the middle, making a tasty sandwich. "You eat that thing any faster you're going to bite your own fingers off." Vilkas stated as he started to remove his chest piece. Hope just waved him off and continued to eat.

It didn't take long for Hope to finish her food, so now she was taking big drinks of water out of Vilkas's water-skin. She didn't have one of her own, so she had to share one with Vilkas.

Moments pass and Hope is now sitting in front of the fire with a book filled with blank pages. She was drawing in it with a pen in hand and an inkwell sitting next to her. She had bought the blank book a couple of days ago so that she could start drawing what kind of armor she really wanted. She was no expert with drawing or armor, so really the first few pages were filled with messy doodles.

Approaching footsteps made her look up from her poor excuse for a drawing. When she saw it was Aren, her stomach did nervous flips. She really wasn't in the mood for small talk with him. "Aren." Hope greeted him with a believable smile. "My lady." He said with a small bow with his head.

"I've come to bid you goodnight and to tell you, if you get cramped in that small tent or get cold, you're welcome to come to my tent. I've been known to be good at keeping people warm at night." He said with a sly smile. "I'll keep that in mind." She said with a small giggle and wave. Aren gave another smile and nod as he turned and headed back to his tent.

Hope watched him and then sighed as she looked back down at the book in front of her. "Creep." She heard Vilkas mumble from behind her. He was laying on his bed roll with a dim lantern next to him and a book in his hand.

Hope can't help but chuckle as she continues to draw. "If he wasn't a creep, I don't think we would've gotten this far down the road today." She pointed out.

"I don't think someone needs to be a creep to believe that fake giggle of yours." Vilkas said as he turned a page. "I don't know. Everyone I've done it on seems to be creepy." She said. "That's probably because when you do it, you give them the wrong idea." He replied.

Hope looks up from her drawing with furrowed eyebrows, she then turns around and asks. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it." He said with a sigh as he turns another page. Hope lifts an eyebrow at him and then turns back around, facing the fire. She remembers the Redguard men back in Rorikstead. How they would look at her when she would batt her eyelashes and sway her hips around them. Then there was Anoriath and how he always got the wrong idea. _'Maybe he's right.'_ She realizes with a frown.

She then clears her throat as she closes her book and puts the cap on the inkwell. "Whatever." Is all she says in response as she walks back over to the tent and places her things back into her bag. Vilkas smirks as he continues to read his book. Hope crawls into the small tent and lays on her stomach on the bed roll.

She crosses her arms beneath her head and looks over at Vilkas and eyes the book in his hands. "What are you reading?" She quietly asks. "Before the Ages of Man." He answered. Hope blinked up at the book and then shifts her eyes away from it and Vilkas.

Vilkas stares up at his book as he hears Hope shift around and roll onto her back. He then hears a small moan leave Hope as she stretched her arms and back. Vilkas quietly clears his throat as he turns to lay on his side so that his back is facing her.

He rests his elbow on the bed roll, his head in the palm of his hand and his book on the ground as he continues to read it. Try to read it that is. Ever since Hope entered the tent, he hasn't been able to focus on it. He's only been turning the pages so that she believes he's reading it.

"You should probably get some sleep." He said with his back still facing her. Hope lifts an eyebrow up and then turns her head to look at him. "Early start tomorrow and all..." He mumbled. "Then you should get some sleep too." She said with her eyebrow remaining up. "I'm not that tired." He replied.

"Then I'm not that tired." She replied back with a small smile. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows and looked back at her over his shoulder for a moment. "What's wrong Vilkas? Having me this close making you uncomfortable?" She asked with a smirk.

Vilkas scoffs as he looks back down at his book. "More like making me hate myself for forgetting my tent." He mumbled.

Hope cocked another eyebrow up at him with her smirk remaining on her face. "You only say that because you don't want to admit liking being this close to me." She teased. Vilkas scoffs again. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten that I'm more into trolls than you." He said with a smirk of his own.

"You only said that because you were jealous." Hope accused. Another scoff leaves Vilkas as he closes his book and turns around to face Hope. "Jealous of what? Of _Aren_?" He mocked her by mimicking the dreamy tone she had used earlier.

"You were jealous because he made it known that he wanted me when you secretly want me." She accused again with a finger pointed at him this time. A sarcastic laugh leaves Vilkas as he rolls over to lay on his back. He lays one arm across his stomach and the other one underneath his head. "Trust me, if I wanted you, you would know."

"I'm pretty sure I know." She said with a nod. "No, you don't." Vilkas argued while reaching over to his lantern to dim the light. "You've made it clear." Hope argued back with a smirk.

This argument she had started was silly and she knew it was, but she started it for a reason. She was so nervous earlier about the awkward silence that might fill the air between them when they lay down for bed, that when she entered the tent she had to think of something that would keep Vilkas talking to her, even if it was a petty argument. And it had seemed to work.

"Like I said." Vilkas continues to argue. "If I wanted you, you would know."

"What makes you so sure that I don't know?" She asked.

"Because I haven't done anything to you yet" He replies with his eyes staring up at the top of the tent.

Hope scoffs and then sarcastically chuckles. "Okay, what exactly would you do then for me to know that you want me?"

Vilkas flicked his eyes over to her and saw her staring at him with a smirk and eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. The moment that question left her lips, all sorts of images flashed behind Vilkas's eyes. Images of what exactly he would do to her, things he shouldn't think about especially being as close as he was to her in the small tent.

He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. She was still waiting for an answer and he if he didn't come up with something that would satisfy her, she would never drop it. _'Maybe I should show her.'_ He thinks to himself with the corner of his mouth twitching up into a small grin.

 _'No.'_ He quickly tells himself with his eyes tightly shutting. Luckily the light in the tent was so dim Hope wasn't able to see the series of emotions showing on Vilkas's face. _'Maybe just tease her a little to shut her up.'_

His eyes slowly open as he really starts to think about it, that sounded better than the first thought. Maybe if he did tease her just a little, she would drop it. The corners of his mouth twitched again, wanting to form that grin but he kept them from doing so. ' _No I shouldn't..'_ He argues with himself. _'But if I don't, she might never drop it and just might make me lose control...'_

He argued with himself for a good long while, making an intense silence fall between them and the smirk on Hope's face slowly disappear. Just before giving up and call it a night, Vilkas sits up and looks at her. "You really want to know?" He asks, finally breaking the silence.

Hope lifts another eyebrow up at him. She then sits up and crosses her arms over her breasts with a small smirk on her face. "Maybe."

That maybe was all Vilkas needed to proceed. He quickly looked away from her to hide the grin that forcefully formed on his face. She watched him shift around a little, the dimming light of the lantern was making it harder to see him.

"First..." His voice darkened as he trailed off and shifted around some more. Hope squinted her eyes, trying to see him through the growing darkness but now it was nearly impossible. The light of the lantern had completely gone out and her eyes were taking their sweet time adjusting to the dark.

Then suddenly, two large hands grip her shoulders and in a split second. She finds herself laying flat on her back with a heavy body above her. She's taken aback by the quick movement that she's unaware of what's going on for a moment. But then, she feels the large hands grab her wrists and hold them down tightly.

That's when she gasps and tries to struggle. "Vilkas!" She shouts in a whisper, fearing she would wake up the others.

No matter how much she struggled though, she couldn't get free. Vilkas would not loosen his grip. Instead, he dips his head down near her ear and blows hot air across it, causing her to shiver. "First..." He repeats himself. "I would take you and hold you down beneath me so that you know exactly how desperate I am for you." He whispers into her ear, his lips brushing against it.

He can hear her breath hitch and feel her body become tense beneath him. "Then..." He trails off as he lifts his head up so that he's face-to-face with her. He lowers his face down and slightly tilts his head as if he's going to kiss her, but just before their lips can touch. He stops. "I'd claim your lips with mine and move them with so much passion that you would moan my name into my mouth." He whispers again. He's so close that his lips brush against hers, causing them to burn as if a fire has just been lit above them.

"Then slowly..." He tilts his head more and brushes his lips against her cheek. "I'd trail kisses down your face..." He moves his head as he speaks down the side of her face and stops at her jaw line. When he does, he notices Hope slightly tilt her head to the side, he couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not. "Then I would kiss you from your jaw to your neck..." As he says that, he dips his head down to her neck and places a very light kiss on her skin.

When he did, he could feel her shiver and tremble beneath his grip. "After I wash you over with my lips, I'd then bite you...here..." He removes a hand from her wrist and slowly drags it down a spot on her neck causing goose bumps to rise. He was surprised that she hadn't slapped him or knocked him off the moment he let go. Instead, she just laid there beneath him, trembling, but it wasn't out of fear. It was out of something Vilkas couldn't believe, something he could feel radiate off of her.

He slowly lowers his face down more to that spot he pointed out and brushed his lips against it. "I'd bite you to mark as mine, so that no one would ever dare to try and take you..." Though his voice remained in a whisper, she could hear the huskiness and almost the want in it.

For a moment, Vilkas remains in that position. He slowly and deeply inhales her scent and can't help but shiver when it fills his lungs. As he did so, he could feel her body heating up beneath him. He could feel her heart beat through her arm and it was racing. What could that mean? Could it mean what he thought or perhaps hoped it meant?

It was want that was radiating off her body and he just couldn't believe it. Could she truly want him like he's wanted her? Does she want him to claim her like he's been wanting to for what's seemed like an eternity? He couldn't be sure and he was too afraid to try. Too afraid of going too far, too afraid of losing control and hurting her. He just couldn't take the risk, no matter how much he longed for her or if at all possible, how much she longed for him.

So with a small sigh leaving Vilkas, he sits up, loosening his grip on Hope's other wrist. "But of course." He started to say with a smirk on his face. Hope blinks up at him in confusion. "I'd only do those things if I wanted you." He said with a pretend sigh as he rolled off her and back onto his own bed roll.

Hope's jaw falls open as she lays there, staring up at the roof of the tent in disbelief. Did he really just do that? She quickly sits up and looks at him with a mean glare in her eyes and her cheeks flaring up a bright red. Though Vilkas couldn't see the look on her face through the darkness, he could feel it. Oh yes, he could feel the fire she was sending his way.

"Problem?" He asked, acting like he had no idea why she was angry. Hope quickly jumps to her feet and kicks his side hard. "Ow!" He exclaims painfully as he sits up and holds onto his side. "You're such a-!" She starts to yell but cuts herself off because she can't think of anything to say.

She's so angry and flustered, she can't think of any kind of name to call him. Not even curse words come to her mind, she's just blank. "Ugh!" She exclaims frustratingly with a stomp from her foot. Without saying or doing anything else, Hope turns on her heels and storms out of the tent. "Where are you going?" Vilkas asked, trying his hardest not to laugh. She doesn't answer, she just leaves.

"Hmph...what's her problem?" He mumbles to himself, pretending like he doesn't already know. He then lets out a loud yawn and scoots himself into the bed roll to cover himself up. He tries to fall asleep and act like what just happened was only a joke, but he can't and he doesn't. He just lays awake with his eyes closed, struggling with the thought of what just happened and what could of happened if he hadn't pulled himself away.


	21. Chapter 21

**Ugh, sorry if this chapter seems too short xC. I've been super busy all week and every time I would start writing I would hit writers block. So I hope this chapter is alright and again..sorry if it's too short D:. I know what I want for the next chapter so it will be better!**

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Just like Vilkas thought, he didn't get a wink of sleep the night before. First it was his thoughts keeping him awake, then it was Hope not returning to the tent until way later into the night. He had no idea what she was doing all that time, not until morning at least.

He got up early, before anyone else did and went for a small walk through the trees. After walking a few feet into the woods he came across a small, burnt out campfire and found a tree that had at least a dozen arrows sticking into it. When he found it, he lifted an eyebrow up at it and scoffed. _'Waist of arrows...'_ Is what he had thought.

But it was her way of getting out her frustrations last night, while she was doing so with shooting arrows, Vilkas was doing so with...something else. After finding that, he decided to head back to their camp and when he did, he saw that Aren and Hope were both up.

He scanned over Hope with his eyes and saw that she was just as tired as he was, she must of gotten less sleep than he did, if that was even possible. He then moved his eyes to Aren, who looked like he slept very well. His hair was even put together while Vilkas's was a skeevers nest and Hope's was tired up into a messy pony-tail. _'Milk drinker...'_ Is all Vilkas could think when he eyes Aren's clean clothes and hair.

"How did you sleep, my lady?" Aren asked Hope while approaching her. "Mmm..Fine..." Hope groans. She was sitting down next to a newly made camp fire with a piece of bread in hand. "Really?" Aren questioned with a raised eyebrow and smug grin. "You don't look like you slept very well." He pointed out while taking a seat next to her.

Vilkas watched Hope's eyebrows go down when he did so, something was telling him that she really wasn't in the fake flirty mood today. A half-grin forms on Vilkas's face as he watched Hope become more annoyed at Aren's intrusion.

"Did it get too cramped and cold in that small tent of yours?" Aren asked with his smug grin remaining. "Not cold, but definitely cramped..." She mumbled. "Hmph." Vilkas exclaimed after hearing that. He watched them for a moment longer and then walked towards their tent to pack it up.

It didn't take him long to take it down and once it was all packed, he returned it to the driver while also thanking him for it. By the time Vilkas was finished, Aren's parents were also finished with packing their stuff along with his. _'Spoiled brat.'_ Is all that comes to his mind when he watches them load up everything into the cart themselves.

"Alright folks, let's get back on the road so we can reach Ivarstead by lunch." The driver called to them. Hope looked over at the driver and watched him hop up to his seat. She then looked over to Aren's parents who were already in the carriage.

Aren got up from the ground and then extended a hand out for Hope to grab. She turns her head to it and furrows her eyebrows down. Aren gestured it out again, signaling for her to grab it. As she stared down at his hand, she could feel eyes burning into her from somewhere and there was only one pair of eyes that could burn through like that. Vilkas.

The corner of her mouth twitched up into a small grin. _'Time for some pay back.'_

She slowly looks up at Aren with a sweet smile and then gently laid her hand into his. Aren returned the smile and carefully pulled her up to her feet. "Thank you." She said with her eyelashes batting. "Anything for you, my dear Hope." Aren replied while leaning down to her hand and planting a soft kiss on its surface. Hope responded with a soft giggle that made him blush.

 _'So we're back to this agian are we?'_ Vilkas thought to himself as he watched them with grimace on his face.

It took all but a few minutes for everyone to load up into the carriage and get back on the road. Instead of taking a seat next to Vilkas, Hope sat down close to Aren. She made sure that their shoulders and legs were touching. The look on Vilkas's face when she did so made her giggle on the inside.

 _'Should've expected this.'_ Vilkas thought to himself with a frown on his face. For the last half-hour, he watched them exchange silly compliments and listened to them flirt with each other. When he couldn't take it anymore, he got out his book to read, he thought maybe if he got lost in it he wouldn't have to hear a word they were saying. But it didn't work, since he got it out he's been stuck on the same sentence. Just like last night.

"You have very beautiful hair." Aren complimented as he watched Hope run her brush through it. "Thank you." She giggled. He watched her fingers dance around each other as she put her hair down into a long braid that hung down her back. He admired the way her red hair shined in the sunlight.

Once she had finished tying the tie around the bottom, Aren couldn't help but reach out and gently grab it. She let him, but she watched him closely. Aren slowly ran his thumb down on the top of the braid and then brought the very end of it up to his nose, he inhaled the scent of her braid deeply.

"Incredible." He breathed against it. A small shiver ran through Hope as she felt him play with it. He then shifted his eyes up to hers while keeping the braid pressed to his nose. "You slept in a small, cramped, open tent all night and yet, you're hair smells as fresh as hot cinnamon in the morning." He said with a charming smile while lowering her braid down from his nose.

She watched him slide the end of it down to his lips and then press a light kiss against it. _**RIIIIP!**_ They both cringe at the sudden appearance of the ugly sound. They both then turn their heads towards Vilkas, who had just ripped a page out of his book.

Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him as she stared at him. He still had his head down into the book and in one of his hands, was the torn page. It looked like he was just about to turn the page but for some reason, it just ripped right out. She moved her eyes down to his hand and saw the page he was gripping was crinkled and torn where his fingers gripped into it.

The sight of it made the corners of her mouth twist up into a smirk. Vilkas slightly lifted his head and shifted his eyes up to Hope, when he saw the smug smirk on her face, he scowled and then quickly ducked his head back down into his book. His reaction was making every little creepy thing that Aren did, worth it.

"It seems you've torn the page." Aren pointed out. "Yeah no shit." Vilkas snapped, keeping his head down into his book. Aren's eyebrows shot up, shocked by his response. "Oh, don't mind him." Hope said with a wave from her hand aimed towards Vilkas.

"So tell me Aren." She said, averting his attention from Vilkas. "What are you guys going to Windhelm for?" She asked with a curious smile. Aren returned the smile and then fully turned his body towards her in his seat. "My parents are both highly respected friends of Ulfric, so they're taking me there to join the Stormcloaks and fight for Skyrim's freedom." He answered proudly.

Hope's eyebrows shot up, completely taken by surprise by that, but while she was surprised, Vilkas was amused and laughed. Aren quickly turned to Vilkas with his eyebrows furrowed. "What's so funny?" He asked. "You, being a soldier. It's funny." Vilkas answered with his book lowering down into his lap. He said it was funny, but he didn't have a smile on his face.

Aren scowled at him and then asked. "What's so funny about it?"

"You, being a Stormcloak. It's typical really." Vilkas answered.

"Yeah?" Aren challenged. "Do explain."

"It's typical because spoiled brats like yourself, who have no honor to speak of, go off and find a war-you know nothing about-to join, thinking it will earn you friends and lovers, when really all it will earn you is a blade through your gut and a name to be forgotten." His words hit like acid and Aren felt them.

"Spoiled brat you say?" Aren spat. "You know nothing about me and it seems you don't know any more about this war than I do, so who are you talk to me like that? As if I was some child who needs a lesson."

"Well it appears to me that you haven't had enough lessons as a child, so maybe I should show you one now." Vilkas growled.

The moment those words left Vilkas's lips, Aren stood to his feet-not caring about the moving carriage-and challenged Vilkas with a mean glare. Vilkas accepted that challenge when he also stood to his feet and met eye contact with him. Both of the dominant and stubborn males just stood there in a heavy silence, glaring deeply at one another.

Hope stayed sitting in her seat and watched them with wide eyes. She couldn't believe how fast that escalated. _'What must his parents think?'_ She wondered to herself as she shifted her eyes over to them.

They were both sitting as far away from them as they could and kept their heads down with their eyes shifted away in the opposite direction. Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down as she continued to stare at them. _'Are they really not going to step in? Or do they always let him do what he wants?'_ That question was answered when she saw them continue to look away and not even try to do anything to calm their son down.

 _'Spoiled brat indeed...'_ She silently agreed with Vilkas. She then moved her eyes back up to the them and just couldn't believe it when she saw they both had their chest's puffed out. As if they were two large Elk's, challenging each other over a female who was in heat. _'Okay this is getting ridiculous.'_

Hope quickly stands to her feet and when she does, she carefully places both hands on both of the challenging males arms to calm them down. They both relax and turn their heads to her. "That's enough you two, no sense in getting into a fight over an argument." She said with a calm smile.

Aren returned Hope's calm smile while Vilkas sneered at her. "You're right." Aren said with an apologetic bow from his head. He then gently grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it's surface. "Forgive me." He said with his eyes looking up to her face.

Vilkas quickly scoffed at them and then sat back down. He crossed his arms, leaned back in his seat and looked away from them. Having nothing to do with them for the rest of the ride there.

As Hope and Aren both sat back down, she shifted her eyes to Vilkas and saw a mixture of emotions painted on his face. First, she saw anger in his eyes, but then she noticed his mouth was curved into a disgusted frown, while his brow was furrowed with a combination of confusion and jealousy. Which was exactly what Hope wanted, because now he knows how she felt last night.

But Vilkas already knew that, because he too felt that way last night. He was disgusted with himself for starting such a thing with her and he was angry at himself for not finishing it, he was also confused to why he even did do it in the first place and confused with why she didn't stop him and what it could mean. What could it mean? There's that question again, one that's been bugging them both for quite some time.

For the rest of the ride, Vilkas kept himself quiet, kept himself in his thoughts while Hope kept having small conversations with Aren as well as his parents, which was surprising because they both had barely said a word since they've been on the road.

It felt like it was taking an eternity to reach Ivarstead and when they did, Vilkas couldn't of been more relieved. Finally it was over and finally, they can be away from the spoiled brat that was named Aren.

"Best of luck to you, Aren." Hope said with a smile. "And to you, my dear Hope." He said with a small nod from his head. "I do hope you two reach Riften safely, and also do be careful while on your travels. I would very much like to see you again, some day." He said with his charming smile that made Vilkas want to loose the food in his belly.

"You as well." Hope replied with a smile. _'Oh just go away already.'_ Is what Vilkas wantd to say, but he kept that to himself. It was almost over and he was almost gone, there was no sense in keeping him here any longer by starting a stupid argument.

After a few more silly compliments and goodbyes, Aren placed a kiss on Hope's hand and then climbed back onto the carriage. The driver whipped the straps, signaling the horse to move and right on his command, it did.

Hope waved to Aren as the carriage pulled away from them. Vilkas stood next to her with his arms crossed and brow furrowed. "That couldn't of ended any sooner." He mumbled as he turned away from Hope and walked towards the Inn. Hope lifted an eyebrow up at Vilkas and followed him with her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Getting some lunch, I suggest you do the same thing because right after lunch, we're heading to Riften." He replied. "But isn't Riften a days journey from here?" She asked while quickly following after him.

"Only if you stop for breaks, if we hurry we might reach it before the days end." He answered. They both entered the Inn and were immediately greeted by the Innkeeper with a cheesy line that he and many others used. When they walked inside, Hope's eyes immediately went to the the waitress, who was sweeping up bread crumbs near one of the tables.

Watching the young waitress clean brought back memories for Hope. She remembered working until way late in the night, cleaning up after patrons that had way too much drink and eat. They weren't fond memories, but they were still memories and they made her feel home sick. _'I wonder if they got my letter.'_

While she was lost in her thoughts and memories, Vilkas was already up at the counter, ordering them some drinks and food. "Would you and you're friend like some cheese? It's fresh." The Innkeeper told him with a smile. Vilkas thought about it for a moment and then turned around to ask Hope.

He lifted an eyebrow when he saw her still standing near the door with a lost look in her eyes. It confused him even more when he thought he saw sadness showing in her eyes for a moment. "Hey." He called to her, immediately knocking her out of it. She blinked a couple times and then quickly looked over to him.

He nudged his head in his direction for her to come over. She quickly caught on and rushed over. "What are you hungry for?" He asked casually. "Oh, I don't really care what you get." She said with a shrug as her eyes moved down to the floor. Vilkas lifted another eyebrow at her and then turned to the Innkeeper, answering his question from a moment ago with a nod. The Innkeeper quickly grabbed a knife and started carving some blocks of cheese off of a fresh wheel.

After they got their food, Vilkas led them to an empty table and then set down the platters while Hope took a seat. He sat down right next to her and then immediately grabbed food off the platters to set on his own plate.

While he was chowing down his food, Hope had only grabbed a single piece of meat and bread. Vilkas noticed this and moved his eyes from her plate, up to her face. "Not hungry?" He asked with a mouth full of food. "Not really." She answered after taking a small bite out of her bread.

"What? Is missing your lover making you so miserable that you're not hungry?" He teased, making Hope scoff and look away from him. Then, as she's sitting there, her lips curve into small grin. "Maybe..." She said with the best disappointed sigh she could come up with. She can't see his face but she can feel his eyebrows furrowing, which made her stomach tickle and made her want to giggle, but she holds it back.

"I thought he was weird and creepy at first, but then the more I talked to him and got to know him...I don't know..." She sighed again while hiding the smile on her face. Vilkas quickly scoffs in response. "You're kidding." He said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"And you're jealous." She accused while turning back towards him. Vilkas scoffs again. "Please, I've got nothing to be jealous of." He replied. "Oh right, because you'd rather bed with a troll than me right?" She said with a little more venom than she meant to.

Her response surprised Vilkas, he raised his eyebrows up and turned his head to her. She didn't look at him, she was just staring at the wall in front of them but he could sense her unease and see a faint blush appear on the sides of her face. _'So that really got under her skin huh?'_

"So..." A smirk slowly forms on his face. "Are you saying you want to sleep with me?"

Hope's eyes widened as she jumped out of her seat, and she did so, so fast that she bumped the table hard making their drinks spill. The commotion caused everyone in the tavern to turn and look. Vilkas was looking up at Hope with both his eyebrows raised again and then couldn't help but chuckle when he saw her face slowly turn red.

He then watched her take a deep breath and wipe some of the spilt water off her armor. Once she's done that, she slowly turns towards him with the best serious expression she could muster up. "I would rather bed with a cave bear than you." She said calmly and then, again calmy, turns away from him and walks towards the tavern door.

"I bet if you ask Camilla she'll tell you that there isn't much of a difference between me and one." He said with a smirk, causing Hope to stop in her tracks. He raises an eyebrow up with the smirk remaining on his face as he watches her muscles slowly tense. He then hears her take another deep breath and watches her leave the Inn.

"Well that was fun." He said to himself quietly with a chuckle following after. It was about time he was able to get pay back for how she was acting earlier. She may be unhappy with him for a while, but it was worthe it and they were now even.


	22. Chapter 22

**Alright, I just want to clear something up real quick before you guys read this chapter. In this chapter are the Black Briars and in my story I've made it to where Hemming, Siddi, and Ingun are all Maven's children. I know a lot of people say that Hemming is her son and the other two are her grandchildren and then there's also another theory that Hemming is her husband (which is actually what I thought too at first until I looked it up.) I read on a website that he is her son along with the other two. So that is how it is in my story, just wanted to let you all know before anyone got confused.**

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They've been on the road to Riften for a couple of hours now and Hope has barely said a word. She hasn't even so much as looked in Vilkas's direction. It wouldn't bother him if it wasn't for the intensity in the silence.

He's tried a few times to start a conversation with small talk, but each time was shut down with Hope's one word answers. Was she really that mad at him for last night?

 _'Well this is just great.'_ Vilkas thinks to himself with a sigh. "So." Hope speaks, surprising Vilkas by finally being the one to break the silence. He looks to her with lifted eyebrows, waiting to hear what she has to say.

"If our job is only near Riften, than why are we going **to** Riften?" She asked. "Because the person who gave us the job is in Riften." Vilkas answered. Hope turns her head to look at him with an eyebrow raised and questions. "So?"

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down in question to her response. "We don't normally talk to the actual people that hire the Companions right? Just the ones who assign us jobs like Aela and Skjor, right?" Hope asked.

"That's right." Vilkas nodded. "Then why are we meeting this one? What makes them so special?" She asked. Vilkas sighed in response as he looked back a head. "I wouldn't say special..." He mumbled.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows at him and stopped walking. Vilkas quickly stops right next to her and looks at her with a questioning look. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Vilkas stared at Hope for a moment and then looked away while bringing his hand up to the back of his neck. "She's...just an important patron." He explained, but Hope only became more confused.

"Who is she?" She asked. "She's someone who likes to give the details of a job in person, the details I received from Skjor was nothing more but what we are doing and where we are going. Which is usually all we need to do a job, but she likes to see us in person and give us full detail of what she wants done." He explained.

"Why?" Hope asked again. Vilkas started to become annoyed with all of the questions and he showed that with a sigh. "Because that's just who she is." He answered plainly.

Hope furrows her eyebrows down at him again, still not feeling satisfied with his answers. "Who is she?" She asked again, wanting a name. Vilkas lets out another sigh as he brings his hand up to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. He wasn't really wanting to tell her that, he hated that the Companions would associate with someone like her, but she payed well and always had useful information for them if they ever needed any.

"Maven Black Briar." The moment that name left his lips, Hope's stomach twisted and turned in a way that made her want to be sick. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down as he watched her eyes widen and her face slowly turn pale.

"I uh.." He stops to clear his throat. "I take it you know her?" He asked. Oh yeah, she knew her. In fact, she knew the whole family.

It was a couple of years ago when she met the Black Briar family. It was in the middle of the day and Hope was working at the Inn, feeding all of the hungry farmers that were taking a lunch break.

She remembered placing a plate of food in front of her father when the door to the Inn slammed open and everyone instantly heard shouting. It startled Hope so much, she nearly dropped the plate of food on to her fathers lap. "What in oblivion?" Is what her father had said when he turned around to look at the opened door.

"We don't really have to eat here do we?" They heard a young woman complain. Then shortly after, everybody watched two young men-who look to be a couple of years apart-followed by a young woman, walk into the tavern.

"Do you see anywhere else to eat in this gods-forsaken village." The leading man replied with a disgusted look on his face. "Hmph." She had exclaimed when she watched the three strangers take a seat at the far end of the tavern.

"Maybe if we're lucky this dirty little village will at least have some dames to entertain us." The other young man said. The young woman then scoffed and crossed her arms. "Aren't you engaged?"

"Yeah, and?" The young man replied with a scowl.

"Who the heck are they?" Erik questioned with his eyebrows furrowed. He was sitting next to her father, getting ready to eat lunch also. "I don't know, but they look like trouble." her father said while keeping his eyes on the newcomers.

"Could we PLEASE get some service over here!" The young man that was leading them just moments ago yelled. "Be careful around them Liah." Her father quickly said before she could even take a step in their direction. She looked down at him with her eyebrows knit together. "I don't like the look of 'em, especially those two boys." He said with a frown.

Her fathers worry had made a small giggle escape from her. Her father would occassionally become protective, and every time he did she could never help but laugh. "I'll be fine." She said. "I've handled worse." She said with a small shrug, she was so confident in herself in that moment, even though she had no idea who she was walking towards.

"Are you folks wanting something to eat?" She asked with a smile when she reached their table. The one who shouted before shouted again in response with out looking up at her. "Of course we do! Did you think we were just-" He starts to shout again but the moment he looks up at her, he stops.

She watched his eyes widen for a moment and then saw the corners of his lips turn into a wicked grin that he thought was charming. She blinked at him with her eyebrows furrowed and then shifted her eyes to the young woman, who was paying no attention to anyone or anything but the book in front of her. She then moved her eyes to the other young man who had an even bigger smile on his face.

Watching them both sit there and smile wickedly at her, as if they had something playing in their minds, made her stomach twist into all kinds of knots. It was a sickening feeling she would never forget. "Please excuse my older brother." The other one spoke. "He can be rather impulsive." He said with his eyes falling to her chest.

When she realized just what he was looking at, she cursed herself for wearing that dress that day. It was a common dress worn by a lot of waitresses, it was long on the bottom, but on top it cut off just below the shoulders allowing a little cleavage to spill out. She remembered that she had worn that dress to try and get a reaction out of Erik. She was successful in her goal and felt like it was worth all the other stares and jaws dropping, but then she met the Black Briar brothers and wasn't so sure.

"Talk about impulsive." The older brother laughed out loudly. "He let's his eyes fall on anything that shows and he's engaged!" He said loudly again for all to hear. The younger brother quickly looked at the older one with a mean glare but he just smirked in response to it.

She then heard a loud, annoyed sigh come from the younger woman. "Could you two just order something to eat already. I want to leave as soon as mother is done with her business." She said with her eyes staying on her book. The other two furrowed their eyebrows down at her and then looked back up to their waitress.

"Before we do, I'd like to know your name my dear." The older one said with his grin returning to his face. "Just in case we require your...services again. You never know how long we might be here" He said with his grin growing.

Her grip tightens on the empty platter she was holding as she shifts her eyes between the two grinning men. "It's, uh." She stops to clear her throat and then tells them. "Liah."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He said with the best charming smile he could come up with. She lifted an eyebrow up at his poor excuse of a smile but then, she returns it-but better-and bats her eyelashes. Doing so made him and his little brother both sit up straight so fast she thought they just might fly out of their chairs and hit the ceiling. The mental image of it made her smile more, but the two brothers didn't know why, they both just assumed that it was their "charm".

She knew her actions just then would probably come back to haunt her later, but she needed to know who these strangers were, and the only way to do that was to play along. "Might I know your name, sir? Like you said." She stopped to hug the platter to her chest and bat her eyelashes some more. "You never know how long you might be here."

After those words left her, the older brother stood up from his seat so fast that he nearly knocked his chair down. He then took a step forward, grabbed her hand and leaned down towards it to give it a light kiss. But before he does, he stops just above it and lifts his eyes up to her face with a toothy smile. "You may call me Hemming my dear, Hemming Black Briar." He said his full name proudly, as if she was supposed to know who he was.

After placing a light kiss on the top of her hand, he let go and stood straight back up."Behind me is my younger brother and my younger sister. Their name's are Siddi Black Briar and Ingun Black Briar." He gets louder each time he says their last name. "I doubt she knows who we are, so stop trying to impress her with our names." His sister said with a sigh.

He turns his head to look at her and then he turns back to the young waitress with his eyebrow lifted. "Do you know who we are?" He asked. She stares at him blankly for a moment and then shifts her eyes to his younger brother Sibbi, who was also staring at her with a lifted eyebrow. They both expected her to know them, but she didn't. She's never heard of them before, but she can't say that. She gets the feeling that these strangers take major offense to people not knowing who they are.

She then moves her eyes back to Hemming and watched his eyebrows knit together as her eyes softened and the tops of her cheeks showed a light blush. "I'm..I'm sorry." She said quietly as she moved her eyes to the ground, allowing her long eyelashes to flutter. "I'm afraid I don't know you sir." She said, making sure her voice was soft and stayed just above a whisper, all while she moved her head to the side with her eyes staying on the floor. She was a very good actor and immediately had the brothers wrapped around her finger.

Immediately after, she feels a strong hand on her shoulder and then another under her chin. Her head is brought back up so that she's looking at him again and when she is, Hemming is a little too close for comfort. "You are forgiven, my dear." She immediately furrows her eyebrows down at him. _'huh?'_ She wasn't expecting that kind of reply.

Oh well, she's found out who they are and the five minute conversation she just had with them tells her what kind of people they are. "Well." She cleared her throat and took a step back from him. "Let me go get you guys something to drink while you decide what you want to eat." She said with a smile.

"Finally." She hears Ingun mumble as she turns from them and walks away. When she passes Erik and her father, she can just feel the scowl on Erik's face. Which makes a delightful smile appear on her face. He never admitted his jealousy so it had always made her happy when he showed it. "Just like her mother." She swears she can hear her father mumble with a chuckle following after.

"Be careful with those three over there Liah." Mralki said as she approached the counter. "Why? Do you know who they are?" She asked as she started to gather bottles of mead to put on the large platter.

"Of course I do, their family owns the Meadery out near Whiterun, along with the Black Briar Meadery in Riften and the honey farm outside of Riften." He told her while he was cleaning out a mug. "Really?" She asked with both of her eyebrows raised with shock. Mralki nodded and replied. "Yep. Who did you think we got most of our mead from?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I just thought we bought it from random merchants like we do a lot of supplies." She said while picking up the now heavy platter. "Didn't you ever see the Black Briar name on some of the bottles?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't get payed to read bottles." She joked with a smile. "And what is it that you get payed for exactly?" Mralki teased with a lifted eyebrow. "Flirting with my patrons?"

"Gets you business doesn't it?" She replied with a smirk before turning around and walking back to the Black Briar's table. "And a belly aching son..." He mumbled under his breath.

When she approached the table with the heavy platter, Hemming immedietly stood up and took it from her. "Let me help you with that." He said with a big grin on his face. "A little thing like you shouldn't be heavy lifting."

 _'Little thing?'_ She lifted an eyebrow up as she watched him raise the platter over his head, trying to show off what muscles he had, and then set it down on the table with ease. "Big show off you are." Sibbi mumbled with his eyes rolling.

"So kind of you." She said with her best smile. "Not a lot of **strong** men would be willing to help a _little thing_ like me." She faked giggled. "Well.." A deep rumble came from his chest when he spoke, causing her arm hairs to stand on end, but not in the good way.

He then turned back around to face her and took a step towards her so that he would tower over her. "I'm not like most men." Another rumble with almost what sounded like a growl full of want. Her eye's widened as she stood there, looking up at him and his darkening eyes. In that moment, she felt like a rabbit being cornered by a hungry saber. _'I think this is a good stopping point.'_ She immediately decided as she felt the sickening feeling in her stomach from before return.

She quickly took a step away from him and then cleared her throat before speaking. "Ha-have you decided on what you want to eat?" She can feel her cheeks burning hot from her nerves and sweat gathering in the palms of her hand. Hemming took her nervousness as a good sign, when really it wasn't. It was actually a sign of her wanting to get away from him as soon as possible.

"Not yet, my dear." His voice is low when the last two words leave him, making her shudder. "Give us a bit more time and I'll...come find you when we're ready." He said with a toothy smile. "Ugh!" Ingun exclaimed while slamming her book shut. "I'm waiting outside." She said as she angrily stood up from her chair and stormed out of the Inn. It would seem she was growing tired of waiting for them to order something.

That's when the young waitress quickly bows her head to them and then turns around walking away from their table. As she walked away from them, she could feel Hemming's eyes burning into her from behind. She just couldn't get away from him quick enough.

When she reached the counter, Mralki scanned over her face with his eyes. He can see her nerves showing through her eyes and the heated blush, along with some sweat on her face. Luckily, Mralki was smart enough to know what was showing wasn't a good sign. "Why don't you go a head and take the rest of the day off." He said.

She looked at him with relief already filling her eyes but then blinks it away and asks. "Are you sure?"

"I am." He replied with a nod. "I can take over from here, go on." He said with his head nodding towards the door. She lets out a relieved sigh and gives him a quick, thankful smile before turning away and leaving the Inn.

She spent the rest of that afternoon sitting on her porch, sewing up holes in her sisters dresses. That afternoon had passed by fast, even though she did know how to sew, it still wasn't her strong suit and she had to start all over several times.

"Ow." She hissed while quickly withdrawing her hand away from the dress. She was holding the fabric together to run the needle through and just as the tip started to poke out, it stabbed her finger. She put her finger in her mouth as she examined where she stuck the needle through, just to make sure that it was in the right spot that time.

To her liking, it was. She smiled at the small achievement as she removed her finger from her mouth and pinched the fabric together again to continue, but a door slamming open nearby made her jump and nearly stab herself again. She quickly looked up and squinted her eyes in the direction it came from.

It came from the Inn and it was the Black Briar's leaving. "About time." She heard their sister Ingun say. She saw her stand up from where she was sitting on the porch of the Inn, she passed her when she left earlier but she didn't think she would still be there. She must of had nothing better to do then read that book she had.

"Yeah, yeah." She heard Siddi reply. "Is mother done with her business yet?" Hemming asked. "I don't think so." Ingun answered with her head turning towards the direction of one of the farms. She followed where Ingun's head went and saw an older looking woman, probably around her fathers age, standing on the farm that her father and Erik usually worked on.

She was talking with Rorik, the owner of Rorikstead. It looked like they had been speaking for quite some time about something important. "What are you doing?" She heard Ingun ask in the distance. She looked back towards them and saw that all three of them were now standing in the middle of the road, next to their carriage.

Hemming was a few feet away from them as he was looking around with his hand held up to his forehead. "I'm looking for that young waitress from earlier." He said with his eyes scanning the village. "I'm thinking I might stay in the village tonight." She didn't need to see his face to know what kind of grin he wore.

After hearing that, she quickly ducked down and held up both of the torn dresses. Doing what she could to hide herself. "What makes you think she'd want to ever bed with you?" Siddi questioned with a smirk. "Didn't you see the way she was talking to me earlier?" He replied as he turned back around to face his brother.

"She was practically all over me! Can't help but wonder how she'll be like when we do the dirty deed." He laughed out while lifting a bottle of mead that he took from the tavern up in the air. He then brought the bottle to his lips and began to take a drink.

 _ **THUD!**_ Something small ran into him from behind hard. Not hard enough to knock him down, but hard enough to knock him forward and spill his drink all over himself. He quickly straightens himself back up and then looks down at his soaking shirt.

A mean snarl formed on his face as he turned around to see who was responsible. Immediately his eyes go down to the ground and below him, was a little girl. A little girl who had fallen from the impact, who was staring up at the angry man with fearful eyes. Behind her was another little girl, one that looked just like her who was watching with worried eyes.

"Why..you...little!" He yelled making the little girl wince. "Do you have any idea of what you've done?!" He yelled even louder, making her cower beneath him. "I'm sorry!" She cried with both arms held above her head, as if she expects him to start swinging at any moment.

That voice, she knows that voice. She quickly tossed the torn dresses to the side as she got to her feet. She walked out into the road to get a better view of what was going on and when she saw that it was her little sister Sissel Hemming was screaming at, anger boiled inside her.

"You're going to be!" He yelled with his hand raising in the air. "Oh, I don't think so!" She said outloud before rushing over.

Just when Hemming was about to strike down at Sissel, his hand stops mid-air. The young waitress from before was suddenly in front of him and had caught his hand before it could go anywhere. He furrowed his eyebrows down at her in confusion. "Wha-" He's cut off by a fist landing a hard blow to his nose.

He staggers back with his hand covering his nose. "You.." He stops to look down at the blood that had already collected in his hand. He then looked back up at her with a mean snarl and shouted. "You bitch!"

Everyone who was outside in the village heard and began to gather around. Her father, Lemkil had just witnessed what had happened and immediately rushed over to collect his young daughter. After picking her up in his arms he stands up straight and glares at Hemming. "You would strike a child for an accident!?" He yelled.

"Of course he would." She answered before Hemming could even glance at her father. Hemming snarled even more at her, showing teeth and she just glared right back at him, with both fists curled tightly. "He's a spoiled brat who thinks he can get away with anything just because his mommy has some money."

She didn't think it was possible for someone to snarl so much, but Hemming Black Briar proved her wrong. What she had said and what she had done, really made him mad and made something snap inside him. "You stupid little whore!" He shouted to the tops of his lungs. "You any idea who I am!? Who you're messing with!?" His voice echoed through out the village.

"Oh dear." Sighed Maven Black Briar as she watched her son make a fool of himself. Like always, she didn't step in. She just sat back with Rorik and waited to see how it would play out.

Then out of no where. _**SLAP!**_ He strikes her across the face so hard that it echoes and makes everyone nearby wince. "Hey!" Erik yelled angrily as he was about to charge over, but Lokir-who also worked the farms-extended an arm out and stopped him.

Hemming raises his hand to strike her again, not caring that she was on the ground from the first one. "Alright that's enough!" Shouted Rorik, making Hemming stop in mid-slap and turn to look at him. The sides of Roriks face were glowing red from anger. To watch someone strike at one of his villagers, a girl he watched grow up. He might as well be watching someone strike at his own child.

"Maven." He turns to her with his jaw tightening. He was trying to hold back his anger when he spoke to her, but it was difficult. "I'm afriad I'm going to have to refuse your offer, Rorikstead isn't in need of a honey farm. Now I would gladly appreciate it if you and your family got in your carriage and left my village." With out waiting for a response, he quickly turned away from her and rushed over to the fallen young woman.

She felt Roriks hands grip the top of her arms as he helped her up to her feet. "You okay?" He asked. She nodded in response.

She kept her head down but shifted her eyes up. She saw Hemming, still standing there glaring at her until his mother came to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards the carriage. "We will speak of this later." She heard her scold him quietly.

She and everybody else watched them load up into the carriage and watched it pull away from them. Because of what had happened, Rorikstead lost a good deal from Maven Black Briar. Apparently she had noticed the exceptional environment around them and offered Rorik a good amount of coin if he allowed her to build a honey farm in their village. Not only would he of gotten the coin from the building of the farm, he would of also gotten a cut from the farm. But he turned it down after what had happened with Hemming and she had felt guilty ever since.

"Hope?" Vilkas's distant voice slowly brought her out of the vivid memory. "Hope." He called her name again. She blinked several times before finally looking him in the eye. He was staring at her with an eyebrow raised, confused to why she suddenly went blank. "Yeah." She cleared her throat. "I've heard of her." She said, answering his question from before.

Vilkas stares at her for a moment longer and then turns to continue walking down the road with her quickly following. "Then you know who we're dealing with. When we get there, let me do the talking." He said. She nodded in response. _'Far as I'm concerned...you can handle everything.'_ Is what she wanted to say, but she kept it to herself. She didn't want him questioning her what she meant by that.

Like Vilkas had hoped, they reached Riften just as the sky darkened. They didn't stop for any breaks and didn't slow down for any pointless chatter. In fact, the rest of the way there was filled with mostly silence, not awkward like before, it was silence from them just wanting to hurry and end their long walk.

"Hold." The guard at the gate said, stopping them before they could enter the city. "What's the problem?" Vilkas asked with his eyebrows furrowed. "Before you enter the city, I'll be needing to collect the visitors tax." He said.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at him even more. "Huh?" He questioned. "What's the tax for?" He asked. "For the privilege of visiting the city." The guard replied.

"Ha!" Hope laughed out, making the guard turn his head and look at her. "Something funny?" He questioned with annoyance showing in his voice. "What you said is funny." She answered him with a smirk.

"Excuse me?" The guard questioned again. "Visitors tax? Really?" She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. "This is obviously a **shake down**!" She shouted the last two words, making the guard jump and quickly rush over to the gate. "Alright, alright!" He hissed. "Just keep your voice down, I'll open the gate." He said with a reluctant sigh as he started to unlock it.

Hope watched with a satisfied grin while Vilkas watched with furrowed eyebrows. "Alright, head on in." The guard said with another sigh while walking back to his spot.

Vilkas stared at the guard for a moment longer, not sure of what just happened. He then looks away and walks towards the gate with Hope right behind him, he wasn't looking at her but he could feel the proud smile still planted on her face.

"Nicely done." He said quietly as they passed through the gate. "How did you know he was lieing about the tax?" He asked. "Because he's a bad liar and an obvious scammer." She replied. "I can't image he's fooled very many people with that stiff posture of his." She said.

"So, you can read people...huh..." He chuckled. It felt like everyday he was learning something new about her, but of course she could read people. She was a waitress for a very long time, she didn't get tips from just waiting tables. She had to learn to read people to know what to say to get their pride going. That's how she was able to flirt with so many men.

"Alright, Maven likes to meet at the tavern up there." He said with his finger pointing it out while they walked. "When we get inside...well like I said, just let me do the talking and keep quiet. I want to get this meeting over with as soon as possible." He said with a sigh. "Right." She replied with a nod. She also wanted to get it over with and to never have to deal with Maven or any other Black Briar again.


	23. Chapter 23

When Hope and Vilkas enter the tavern, she sees that it's packed full, she didn't see a single empty table or bar stool. It didn't surprise her, Riften seemed like a decent sized city and she knew it had a strong economy fueled by fishermen and mead makers.

Hope scanned the Inn and everyone in it, but she didn't see anybody that looked like Maven and luckily anyone that looked like her children. "Come on." Vilkas said, bringing Hope's attention to him. When she turns to look at him, she sees him already walking up some stairs.

Hope quickly follows after him but stays behind him, she didn't know if it was going to be possible to stay out of Maven's sight but she sure was going to try. "Maven has a little room up here she likes do to her meetings in." Vilkas told her as the ascended the stairs.

When they reached the top, Hope followed him around a corner that had a door attached to an obviously small room. In front of the door was a large man. He wasn't as tall as Vilkas but he was built more in muscle.

Vilkas walks up to greet him while Hope stays behind to examine him. He had long black hair that was tied back into a low ponytail, along with a short black beard that took up half his face. He was leaning on his back against the door with both of his muscular arms crossed.

"Vilkas." He said with a nod. His deep voice took Hope by surprise. "Maul." Vilkas said with a nod back. "Maven's been waiting for you." Maul told him. He then shifted his eyes over to Hope and scanned her over from head to toe.

She tensed up when she saw his eyes move all over her, clearly judging what he was seeing. "But only you." He said with a frown. "Who is she?" He asked with his eyes going back to Vilkas. "She's new, came along to get some experience." He answered.

"Hmph." Maul exclaimed with a frown. "She looks like she needs it." He said making Hope quickly scoff and furrow her eyebrows. She opens her mouth to respond to that but Vilkas stops her by lightly grabbing her arm. "That's enough." Said Vilkas. "You said Maven's been waiting, we're here, let's get this done."

Maul eyed Vilkas for a moment and then stepped away from the door. Vilkas turns his head to Hope and whispers. "Just stay behind me."

 _'Don't worry, I plan to.'_ She wanted to tell him, but she didn't, she just nodded in response and then followed him into the small room.

It's bigger than Hope thought it would be. When they walk in, the first thing they see is a desk sitting against the opposite wall of where the door was. Papers littered the desk as well as books that were stacked high on one side of the desk. On the other side was a lit candle that seemed to be the rooms only light source, its flame lit up the wall behind it, casting all sorts of odd shadows from the cluttered desk.

Then in front of the desk, was a decent looking chair and in that chair, was a well aged woman. She had her back facing them while in the chair as she had her head slightly bowed and a hand writing away at a piece of paper, and by the way she was writing, Hope guessed that it was either an angry letter or a threat.

"It's about time you showed." She said casually with a sigh. She hadn't moved her head to look at them, only heard the door open. So Hope wondered how she even knew who they were. "I was about to give up on you showing today." She said again as she set her pen down.

Hope and Vilkas then watch her scoot the chair back and then gracefully stand up from it. She slowly turned to them and immediately, her eyes fell on Hope. She furrowed her eyebrows down as she examined her, clearly trying to remember where she's seen her before.

Hope's stomach twists into sickening knots as she watched Maven's eyes scan her. Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up at Maven and then shifted his eyes to Hope. While she kept her face calm, she let her eyes spill all kinds of emotions.

First he could see worry, then maybe fear? He wasn't sure, but he was sure now that she did know Maven. Before, when she had said that she had only heard of her, he felt like she was hiding something and seeing, no, feeling the emotions radiating off her now was proof that his suspicions from earlier were right.

"Pardon me." Maven said, finally breaking the intense silence. She scanned over Hope one last time before asking. "Do I know you? I feel like I've seen you from somewhere."

Hope quickly replied with her head shaking. "No, sorry miss. I believe you're mistaken."

Maven lifted an eyebrow up at Hope and crossed her arms. "Hmmm.." She hummed. "I rarely am."

"This is Hope." Vilkas said, cutting in. Maven turns her head to him as she lifts another eyebrow. "She's new to the Companions and she came along for some experience." He explained.

"I see." Maven said, turning her head back to Hope. She stared at her for a moment longer, watching her cower away from her just a little bit. She then moved her eyes back to Vilkas and said with a sigh. "To business then."

"There's a group of bandits that are hold up East of Riften that are causing me trouble, I want you to take care of them." She plainly said with both arms going behind her.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What kind of trouble?" He asked. "Do they pose a threat to the people of the Rift? Or just to you?" He said, almost sounding like he's challenging her.

Hope watches him with wide eyes, she can't believe he had just said that, but it was clear that he wasn't afraid of her like most others were. He knew where to draw the line though and where his line was, he wasn't quite there yet. To him, they had a right to know.

"Does it matter?" Maven said with her eyebrows furrowing. "I'm paying the Companions a decent sum of coin to get this job done, so get it done." She ordered but Vilkas wasn't budging.

"Why not just get your little guild to do this for you?" He questioned.

Maven scoffs at his challenging questions and then turns away from him to look down at some papers on her desk. "They're an incompetent bunch, something I thought the Companions weren't." She replied. "Unless." Her lips curve into a small grin. "I'm wrong." She purred with her head slightly turning so that she can eye them from over her shoulder.

Hope looks to Vilkas with her eyebrows knit together, wondering what he'll do now. She's surprised when she sees him sigh and then pinch the bridge of his nose. "You rarely are." He reluctantly mumbled. Maven's lips now curve into a satisfied smile as she turns back around to fully face them once again.

"Good." She said with her smile remaining. Hope looks back at her with her eyebrows furrowed, is this woman really so powerful that even Vilkas will back down from her? "I want this problem taken care of as soon as possible and when it is, you'll know where to find me." She told them before moving them both aside so that she can walk between them and leave the room.

Hope turns and watches her walk away with Maul quickly following after her. When she's out of sight, she turns back to Vilkas and asks. "We have to meet with her again after the jobs done?"

"Yeah." Vilkas replied with a sigh as he removed his hand from his face. "She always wants us to report back after just so she knows that the job is done." He explained. "She only pays after it's done too, so that we don't have a choice but to report back."

The thought of returning made Hope frown and feel just as anxious as she did before, but she understood why. "Don't worry, next time we talk to her you can wait outside if you want." He said, now facing her. She looks up at him and lifts an eyebrow. With out saying another word about it, he just gave her a quick pat to the shoulder and then walked out of the small room.

"Come on, let's go get us some rooms." He told her. Hope nodded and then quickly followed after him.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Vilkas was the first to walk out and approach the counter. Hope stayed behind for just a moment, before turning the corner and walking out into the open. She peaked from behind a wall that covered the stairs and took a look around. She just wanted to be sure that non of the Black Briars had walked into the tavern while they were upstairs.

She felt relieved when all she saw was pretty much the same faces when they first walked in. So, feeling content she walked around the corner and out into the room to join Vilkas at the counter.

 _ **THUD!**_ "Oof!" She exclaimed after a hard body ran right into her. She fell forward against whoever it was and banged the front of her face into their hard chest. "Pardon me lass." A voice with a strong accent said. Then she felt a strong grip on one of her shoulders stand her back up, while she also felt something tugging on her belt. _'Huh?'_ She furrowed her eyebrows down and tried to look down at her belt but a hand caught her face and stopped her.

That hand moved its fingers under her chin and then lifted her face to look up at whoever was in front of her. Her eyes immediately met contact with a matching green pair that had something hidden in them, but what?

She furrowed her eyebrows down as she began to exam the man in front of her. He had long red hair that met his shoulders along with red stubble that decorated the lower half of his face. Planted in the middle of that stubble was a handsome grin that would make an average woman swoon, but not her, not just yet at least.

She moved her eyes down to his cloths and saw that they were a merchants casual ware, but she had a feeling there was nothing casual about this one. She moved her eyes back up to his face and examined his eyes once more, it bothered her that she couldn't figure out what was hiding behind them.

"You should be more careful." He spoke with amusement appearing in his soft voice. When she hears that accent again, she can't help but swoon just a little. She's never heard one like that before, did everyone in the Rift speak like him? She couldn't help but hope so.

"If you're not watching where you are going, well, there's just no telling who you might bump into." He said with his face drawing near hers and the hand he had resting under her chin caress up her face. She had actually forgotten it was there and when it traveled up her jaw, she could feel goose bumps rise on the top of her arms.

He almost had her, with his hand resting on her cheek and his body close to hers. He almost had her falling head over heels for him. But that hidden something in his eyes snapped her out of it, making her blink up at him a couple of times before regaining herself. That's when she felt herself become lighter and the warm presence of the handsome man in front of her suddenly gone.

 _'Wait.'_ She blinked a couple more times with a frown slowly forming on her face. That charming smile, that flirting, that look in his eyes. She stands there for a moment longer until she realizes. _'He just did what I do!'_

But why? What could he have wanted from her? That's when the recent memory of the tugging on her belt came back to her. She quickly planted a hand on her hip and patted it. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. _'My coin purse!'_

 _'That son of a bitch stole from me!'_ She quickly looked around in the Inn, hoping she just might see him in the crowd of people, but she doesn't. That's when a small, cool breeze blows past her shoulder causing some of her hair to lift in the air.

She turns around and sees that the doors behind her were slightly left open, but just a crack. It seems the smooth talking stranger has made a mistake and gave her a clue in which direction he went in.

With out any hesitation, she charges for those doors and leaves the Inn. She quickly looks around in every direction she can, but the streets were dark and barely lit, so it was near impossible for her to see.

While letting out a frustrated sigh, Hope steps away from the Inn and continues to look around. Trying to think of where a thief would go after stealing from someone. If it were her, she would go for the darkest streets or alleyways and she knows where the shadows fall just right at this time of night. But only because she remembered immediately looking for the darkest parts that were near them when they first entered the city. She's done that ever since her accident with what she still thinks was a werewolf, every time she goes out at night, she looks closely around her for where the shadows might be at their darkest, for fear that something might be waiting for her to unsuspectingly pass by.

And tonight, that's where she goes. Normally she would avoid the darkest streets and corners of any city or town, but she had no choice. If she wanted to catch the thief that stole from her, that was where she is going to have to go. As she walks on the stony streets, she keeps her footsteps slow and makes sure that her steps always land on the balls of her feet.

When she comes to a corner, she hugs the wall and peeks her head out just a enough to get a view of the street. The last couple of times she's done that, she's found nothing and no one. But this time, she finds someone and she knows its him. His back is facing her but she can tell that his torso is slightly slouched over with both of his hands out in front of him.

 _ **CLING, CLING.**_ She recognizes those sounds as coins being dropped on one another. She clenches her jaw as she watches him count the coin in her purse, with a smile on his face no doubt.

She squints her eyes at him and even in the dark she can tell his muscles are relaxed, but she knows that doesn't mean his guard is down. So she waits, she waits for an opening of any kind.

She watches him finish counting the coin and then watches him stand straight back up-with the purse still in his hand-and start to walk away. She immediately follows him while keeping herself in a slightly crouched position, just in case she needed to jump out of sight in a hurry.

He walks down the street for quite a ways and she continues to follow him as quiet as she can. Up a head, she can see that the street comes to an end by splitting in two ways. She knows she can't keep following him for long and knows she has to do something quick. So she picks up pace and closes in on him while keeping her eyes glued to the back of his head.

 _ **TACK!**_ She stops dead in her tracks. What was that sound? Where did it come from? It came from her, since she was so focused on the man in front of her, she didn't see the small rock on the road and ended up kicking it. She quickly moves her eyes down to the rock and sees that she didn't kick it very hard, because it wasn't very far from her.

She looks back up and is relieved to see that the thief didn't notice the small sound and just kept on walking. But that relief was soon taken over by a small panic, he's nearing the end of the street and could turn either way. She needed to make her move and make it fast. Who knows what lies on those streets. There could be fewer shadows on them or maybe one of them goes directly to his house and if it does, then she really has no chance in getting her coin back because if he enters his home and she goes inside, well that would be considered trespassing and the guards would most likely believe that she was the thief and he was the victim. So yes, she needed to make her move fast.

She's now going down the street a fast but quiet pace with the small rock she had kicked a moment ago, tight in hand. The idea she had wasn't much of one and she had no idea if it was going to work, but it was all she had. So she gains on him and right when he reaches the end of the street and is about to turn, she throws the rock down the opposite street as hard as she can so that it makes a loud enough noise for him to look.

And he does just that. He stops in his tracks and quickly turns his head down the street the rock had landed in and when his eyes are opposite of the hand that holds her coin, she bolts right for him and takes it right out of his hand before he even knew what was going on.

She yanked her coin purse out of his hand so hard that it nearly made him fall over. His eyes widen as he turns his head and watches the young lass from before run from him. But not before gloating. He furrows his eyebrows down when he sees her come to a quick stop, twirl around to face him and hold up her coin purse in the air with a big smile on her face. "Not much of a thief are we, _lass_?" She mocks him by imitating his accent while waving her coin purse around.

Then afterwords he watches her spin back around and quickly take back off down the street with small giggles escaping her. He can't help but chuckle himself as a half-smile takes form on his face. Been awhile since anyone has gotten one out from underneath him like that. As he watches her run off in the distance, he starts to feel a little excitement stir inside him. Which makes him ask himself. _'Should I let her go? Or play a little game?'_ That questioned was answered when he turned down a dark street that he knew circled around.

"Two rooms you say?" The Innkeeper asked Vilkas. He had to stop himself from wincing when he heard her harsh, strong Argonian accent. Not a lot of Argonians traveled through Whiterun Hold so he didn't really see them a whole lot, which meant he never got the chance to get used to the strange way their voices sound.

"That's right." He answered while clearing his throat. "Twenty gold." She said. Vilkas nodded and dug out the exact amount from his coin purse. After paying the Innkeeper, he turns around expecting to find Hope right behind him and is shocked when he doesn't. He quickly looks around in the crowded room and is even more surprised when he doesn't see her anywhere. _'That's strange.'_ He thought to himself as he started to walk towards the stairs.

 _'Perhaps she went back up stairs and decided to wait there?'_ He wondered and hoped. But when he reached the top step, he didn't see her. Vilkas goes a head and searches what empty rooms that were there and just like the expected, she wasn't there.

He hurries back down the stairs with his eyes immediately going back into the crowded room, just to make sure he didn't miss her sitting at a table or a stool anywhere. When he doesn't see her, that's when he knows for sure that she is no longer in the Inn. But why would she leave? She's never been to Riften before and she seemed so nervous earlier. It didn't make any sense to him and that made horrific thoughts come to his mind.

Could someone have snatched her the moment they came downstairs? Or did Maven have Maul grab her when Vilkas wasn't looking because of the history they obviously shared? Both thoughts made a panic rise in his chest, which made Vilkas bolt right out the doors, leaving the Inn.

The moment he steps outside he inhales deeply, hoping he can pick up a trace of her scent and right off the bat, he does. A small breeze had passed by the moment he inhaled the air, allowing him to know which direction she went in. It seemed like things were in his favor just then but he didn't let himself get his hopes up, because luck was tricky and always seemed to switch sides at the very last minute.

Hope walks down a different street now, still wearing the smile she had on when she got her coin purse back. She still couldn't believe that plan had worked and also couldn't help but mock the thief in her head. Which she seemed to have done too soon, because the moment she finished tying her coin purse back to her belt someone grabs her from behind and pulls her into a dark alley.

She yelps when she's grabbed and kicks her legs when she's dragged. Then just as she's pulled into the shadows she's suddenly twirled in a quick circle motion, making her become dizzy and lose her footing.

She holds both arms out, reaching for anything to grab a hold of to keep herself from falling but nothing is close enough to grab, so she falls and hits the ground hard. As she's regaining herself, she hears a low chuckle as well as footsteps approaching her. "Not so quick, are we lass?" A familiar voice mocks her just like she had mocked him only moments ago.

She furrows her eyebrows down and then quickly sits up on her knees to look up at the man in front of her. Her eyes widen when she sees him holding up her entire belt. _'When did he?'_ She feels around her waist to see if it's really gone and then gives him a deep glare.

He only laughs in response to her glare as he starts to untie the coin purse from her belt. "Don't start something you can't finish, lass." He said as he turns his back to her and starts to walk away. Hope quickly scowls at him and then jumps to her feet. When he hears her move, he stops to turn around and look at her but before his eyes can land on her, she's swiped a foot out underneath him and takes him down to the ground.

While he's falling, she grabs her belt right out of his hand and watches him fall down the rest of the way. When he's regained himself and looks up at her, she's holding her belt up in the air like he was, and smiling. "You should learn to take your own advice." She said with a smirk.

He cocks an eyebrow up at her and smiles, which takes her by surprise. She furrows her eyebrows down at him as she watches his smile grow and then sees him quickly flip over to his knees. That's when she tries to make a run for it, but he's too fast and already has a hold of her ankle before she can even take a step away from him.

She feels his hold and tries to kick his hand off but his grip tightens around her ankle and then the next thing she knows, she's on the ground with her nose in the dirt. Her hand releases her belt when she hits the ground and she tries to grab at it, but he pulls her away from it and then flips her over on her back.

She squirms and kicks at him but he sits on her legs and holds her arms down on the ground above her head, so that she can no longer move. "Let. Go!" She said between heavy breaths. She can hear him breathing hard too, which meant she made him work for this small victory.

She's hears him chuckle and then feels him shift around so that he's leaning down near her face. The sides of her cheeks grow warm when his face comes into view and he has his stupid charming smile planted on. In that moment she thanked the gods that it was dark, she didn't need to be more humiliated than she already was.

"You're fast lass, I'll give you that." He said, finally breaking the silence. "But you're too clumsy on your feet, that's why I was able to take you down easily." He said with his smile remaining on his face. "You're not the first to tell me that." She replied with her breathing still being heavy.

He chuckles in response and slightly tilts his head to the side so that he can get a better view of her face. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at him and tries to move around but it was near impossible with the way he was holding her down. "Let me go." She demanded. "Why?" He laughed. "I thought we were having fun." He said with a wink.

A bright blush quickly takes over her face as her eyes widen. "Huh?!" She starts to struggle against him, making his grip tighten. "I'm not-!" She stops to take in a deep breath and try to calm down, but it was hard. The man holding her down sees this and can't help but laugh. She then relaxes her muscles and takes in another deep breath.

"I'm not interested in any kind of fun with you." She said as calmly as possible. "Now let me go!" She yells that last part with her cheeks still burning. He laughs at her again and loosens his grip on her wrists just a little as he sits up. "No need to panic lass, I was only joking." He said with another charming smile to calm her down.

"Tell me, what brings you to Riften?" He suddenly asked. Hope quickly furrows her eyebrows at him. "You're seriously going to ask me my business while being on top?"

"Should I ask you in a different way?" He said with a playful grin. Hope blinks up at him for a moment and then quickly glares at him. "I didn't mean it like that!" She shouted with her legs kicking under him. "Get off!" She demanded again.

"Get off!" Her voice echoed through out Riften and caught the ears of someone who was already in a panic. Vilkas was walking down a street before but now he was running. He knew that was her voice and horrid images were already playing through his head. He followed her scent down the street and mixed with her scent was another, one he recognized but since he was in a panic he couldn't think of anyone he knew it belonged to.

Her scent was growing stronger, he knew she was close and knew he was only one more turn away from finding her. And just like he thought, after that last turn, he found her. But he didn't only find her, he also found someone on top of her and was suddenly seeing red.

"Hey!" His voice was deep, so deep that he felt like it could shake the ground. He watched them both jump and then saw the man sit up completely and turn around to face him. Vilkas was in the middle of charging towards them but the moment he saw the face that belonged to the familiar stranger, he stopped in his tracks.

His red-hot rage slowly faded into confusion. "Brynjolf?" He said with his eyebrows furrowing. Brynjolf raised an eyebrow up at him and then looked down at Hope. "You know him?" He asked with his head nudging in Vilkas's direction.

"Get off of her." Vilkas said with a snarl, his rage returning. Brynjolf looked back at him with his eyebrow remaining lifted and a smirk on his face. He stares at Vilkas for a moment and then looks back down at Hope. "Oh I see." He said with his smirk remaining. "You two are together, aren't you? That's why he came storming at us like that."

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him and opened her mouth to respond, but a large hand griping Brynjolf's shoulder stopped her. Brynjolf's eyes widened when that hand yanked him back and lifted him to his feet and off of Hope.

He quickly turns around to face Vilkas and pushes him off. "Hands off, lad." He said with a more serious voice than he used before. It took Hope by surprise actually, she slowly sat up and watched them both stare each other down. Brynjolf-like most others-was shorter than Vilkas, but that didn't mean he would back down.

Hope slowly gets up to her feet and dusts herself off while watching the two of them continue to stare each other down. "Heard you'd be in town." Brynjolf said, finally breaking the intense silence. "Didn't know you'd be bringing such a lovely lass with you though." He said with a small grin forming. Vilkas scowled at him while shifting his eyes to Hope, who was putting her belt back on around her waist.

Vilkas's eyes widened as they went back to Brynjolf. "Relax lad." He said, already knowing what was going through his mind. "It's not what you think."

"Did you take Hope from the tavern?" Vilkas asked. "Why would I do that?" Brynjolf questioned with a lifted eyebrow, but a crooked smile on his face. "She followed me." He said.  
"And why would she do that?" Vilkas questioned, not believing a word he said. "Maybe because she wanted a little fun?" Brynjolf said with his crooked smile turning into a smirk. Vilkas quickly scowled at him and looked like he was ready to start swinging. "He stole my coin purse." Hope said, cutting in between the two men.

Brynjolf and Vilkas both looked at her. Vilkas had his eyebrows furrowed while Brynjolf continued to have a smirk on his face. "So you go after him by yourself?!" Now he was angry at her and storms right over to her. Hope scoffs at him with her arms crossing over her breasts. "What else was I supposed to do? Let him get away with the only coin I brought?" She questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

"You could've at least told me! I was-" He stops. He can't form the words he wants to say and ends up just swallowing down a large lump that was rising in his throat. As he stares at her, he starts to realize just how foolish it was to worry like he did. Here she was, standing in front him fully dressed in armor with a weapon on her back. She had been training for over a month now to become a Companion and even though she wasn't fully one yet, she was pretty close to it.

She took down a man that towered over her in Riverwood and was even able to take on Skjor and Aela in training. She could handle herself well now and realizing it too late like he was, truly made him feel foolish for worrying so.

"Worried?" Hope questioned, finishing his sentence where had he cut off. Vilkas blinked a couple of times, bringing himself out of his thoughts. When he fully looked back at Hope, he furrowed his eyebrows down because of the smirk she wore on her face.

"You two fight worse than an old married couple." Brynjolf chuckled, knowing it would get under their skin. "We're not a couple." Vilkas mumbled back to him. "Oh?" Brynjolf questioned with an eyebrow lifted as he walked around Vilkas to get to Hope.

They both watched him with furrowed eyebrows and cautious eyes. "Then that means you won't mind if I do this." He said with his charming smile returning to his face while grabbing a hold of Hope's hand. Vilkas sneered at him as he watched Brynjolf lean down towards it and plant a soft kiss on its surface.

Vilkas quickly moved his eyes back to Hope, expecting her to pull her hand away at any moment, but she doesn't. She just stands there, with an unsure look in her eyes and a light blush on her cheeks. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down at that, could she really be attracted to such a man?

That question was answered when Brynjolf had suddenly pulled Hope to him and connected their lips together. She yelped in surprise towards the kiss, but didn't push him away. "Hey!" Vilkas snarled so loud he could of been mistaken for an animal. He quickly took a hold of Hope's arm and pulled her away from him, forcing them to break the kiss.

Hope leaned against Vilkas in a daze, unsure of what just happened while Brynjolf backed away from them with a satisfied smirk on his face. "It was good to meet you...Hope was it?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer before speaking again. "I had fun with you tonight lass." He purred the last word before bowing his head towards her.

"I do hope to see you again some day." He said with another charming smile before turning away from them and leaving. Even though he was confident he could take Vilkas in a fight, he still didn't want to push his luck that night, so he was quick to get out of sight.

Vilkas scowled at him as he watched him disappear in the distance. He then looked down at Hope, who was still in a haze. She blinked a few times before slowly bringing her hand up to her lips. He scoffed and then quickly shoved her away from him. "It was a simple kiss, quit acting like it was a dream come true." He said a little harsher than he meant to.

Hope stumbled forward a little before catching herself and then turned around to face Vilkas. He expected her glare at him for shoving her, but she didn't. She just stared at him with her eyebrows knit together. "It's not a dream come true." She said quickly making him scoff again. "Yeah? Then what's with that dumbfounded look on your face?" He asked.

She quickly looks away from him with a hand rubbing the back of her neck. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows down and crosses his arms. "What?" He questions. "It's just..." She slowly looks down at the dirt and starts to draw in it with the tip of her boot. "It's just what?" He questions again, growing impatient.

"It's just that was the first time I've ever kissed anyone." She admitted quietly and the moment she did, Vilkas felt a sharp pain hit him in the stomach. Her first time? Taken? The very thought of it made the beast inside him lunge and scratch at his surface. He didn't know why it angered him so, it wasn't like she slept with him or anything, it was just a stupid kiss that Brynjolf did because he knew it would piss him off.

But no matter how many times Vilkas tried to tell himself it was nothing, it didn't feel like nothing. It felt like something that was taken away from him, but it shouldn't. She doesn't belong to him, she can kiss or sleep with anyone she wants to. _'No!'_ Something inside him shouted.

Suddenly, the muscles under his armor began to tighten so much that he felt like they just might rip apart. He lowers his head down slightly and then slowly brings his hand up to his face the pinch the bridge of his nose. He inhales deeply and exhales slowly, trying to calm the nerves inside him down, but it wasn't working.

That's when he realized, the wolf inside him was trying to make an appearance. _'No, not here.'_ He tells himself but it isn't working. "Vilkas?" He hears Hope's voice but it's distant and turns into an echo, as does everything else around him.

Hope watches him back away from her with her eyebrows knit together in concern. She didn't understand what was going on, at first she thought it was silly jealousy but now she's not so sure. "Vilkas?" She calls his name again and takes a step towards him, but the moment her foot lands on the ground a sharp pain is sent up through her leg. She hisses sharply as she comes to a quick stop and grabs a hold of it. It was the injury she had gotten a little over a month ago when she was attacked, sometimes it would ache randomly but for some reason, at that moment it felt like it was opening back up.

"Vil-Vilkas. Somethings-" The pain makes her stutter and barely be able to stand. She looks back up, expecting Vilkas to be there, expecting him to help her. But he wasn't, he was gone and now she was alone


	24. Chapter 24

That night after Vilkas disappeared, Hope searched the streets for him for what felt like an eternity. When she found no trace of him, she went back to the Inn to see if he had maybe stormed off there. He seemed pretty upset before he disappeared so it made sense to her at the time.

But when she got to the Inn, she found no trace of him there either. She asked the Innkeeper if he had returned and to Hope's disappointment, the Innkeeper didn't even know that he had left.

She thought about going back out into the city to search for him, but she felt like it wouldn't of done any good and it would probably end with her getting lost in the dark, unfamiliar streets of Riften. So she retired to her room for the night and checked on the scars that were on the back of her leg.

The pain in them still lingered but it wasn't as bad when they first started hurting. She undressed from her armor first and was shocked when she looked upon the old wound. The three long scars that came from the beast's claw were very tinder and seemed to be pulsing. It worried her, making her not know what to do.

She didn't understand why it was hurting like it did and she didn't understand why Vilkas had disappeared all of a sudden. She could see jealousy in his eyes moments before he started acting strange. She had watched his face twist into an unfamiliar expression and saw him back away from her like he an injured pup. Then he was gone.

Could it have still just been jealousy that made him act so strange? He's acted jealouse and irritated before when it came to other men and Hope, but this time was different. It had felt different.

Perhaps seeing Brynjolf steal a kiss from her in such a way hit him harder than she would of expected. But Vilkas doesn't break that easy and it was obvious that Brynjolf had only kissed her to bother him. Maybe it was her reaction that bothered him? She could see that being the reason, she was in a haze for a little while afterwords, but she couldn't help it.

The kiss was such a surprise and his lips had moved against hers with such burning passion that it took her breath away! Any woman would of reacted the way she did so it was silly to think that something like that might of bothered him so, but that was the explanation she went with. It was the only one that made sense to her.

"He'll get it over it." Is what she had mumbled before pulling on some sleep-wear and then climbing into bed. She figured that he would be back some time in the middle of the night and she would wake up to him sitting downstairs eating breakfast. He might give her the silent treatment for a while but like she said, he'll get over it.

The next morning came rather slowly, Hope had her eyes shut most of the night and did try to sleep but the thought of Vilkas not returning kept coming to her mind, making her listen for him to return. Finally some time in the middle of the night, she heard stumbling footsteps hurry up the stairs and then stumble past her room.

She had listened to them stop just in front of her door and then continue on to the room next to hers. It had to have been Vilkas, no one else rented the room next to hers but him. So, feeling a slight bit better about the situation, she was finally able to fall asleep.

When she awoke, she was waken up by something hard being dropped on her. She gasped loudly and quickly sat up, finding that it was a fully packed bag that had been dropped on her. She furrowed her eyebrows down and squinted her tired eyes at it.

"Come on, get up." Said Vilkas. She slowly looked up and saw him standing at the foot of her bed, already dressed in his armor and with his arms crossed over his chest.

She slowly shifts her tired eyes back to the bag on her lap and then lets out a loud yawn. "Where did you go last night?" She asked within the yawn. "I went for a walk." He replied while watching her slowly climb out of bed. When she fully stands up out of bed, Vilkas has to quickly avert his eyes away from her because of what she was wearing.

She didn't think much of it, it was what she always put on when she went to bed. It was just a simple large shirt that once belonged to her father, it stopped just below her bottom and it did cover it, but not by much. If she were to pick up something or take a wrong step, one would easily be able to see her undergarments.

Vilkas shifted his feet around uncomfortably and then cleared his throat. "I'm going to go wait outside while you get ready." He said before turning away from her and leaving the room.

Hope watched the door close behind him with a lifted eyebrow, still not understanding why he became so uncomfortable fast. But then she looked down at herself and realized that she was barely covered. _'Oh.'_ She realized with her cheeks becoming warm. She then quickly grabs her things and begins to get ready.

Vilkas stood outside the door with his back leaning against it, he has his head bowed and a hand slowly rubbing his forehead, trying to get a bad head ache that's been bothering him to go away. It was normal for him to get such a head ache though, it was something he went through every time he changed back from his transformations.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he continued to rub his forehead, hoping to relieve himself of some tension. While doing so, he starts to get flashes of memories from the night before. He remembers running from Hope as he heard her calling his name in the distance. He remembers ripping his armor off behind an abandoned house and then jumping the city's wall, and then...nothing. After that, everything goes blank and he can't recall a thing. The only thing he can remember after all of it, is waking up in the middle of the Rift's forest, naked and covered in blood.

Which worried him but it wasn't being covered in blood that caused worry. Normally after waking up from his transformations, he would be covered in blood but it would be some animals blood. This time, he wasn't so sure. There was no trace of fur in the pools around him and there was no carcass to identify what he had killed. So to him, it could of been anything...anyone.

Vilkas quickly shook himself out of his thoughts before they got any worse. He kept telling himself that it must of been a small animal and that no one got hurt, but his fear was telling him otherwise. When he transformed, he was angry, he was en-raged. Usually when the beast inside him was able to escape, it would stick to the usual hunt-such as elk or rabbit-but since it was his anger that allowed the wolf inside him to escape, it too felt angry. So it could of done anything it wanted last night, and he wouldn't have a clue what.

A loud, frustrated sigh leaves him as he stands up from the door and walks away from Hope's room. He grabs his sheathed great-sword, which was leaning on the far wall near the stairs, and ties it around him so that it's on his back. He then walks down the stairs, ignoring everyone that was in the Tavern that morning, and goes outside.

He needed the fresh air even though it was a fishy-fresh air, it was fresh air non-the-less. When he steps outside he closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, breathing in through his nose and then out his mouth. It was relieving some of the tension in his head and helping his muscles relax. The distant chatter in the Market-Place that was just on the other side of the Inn was also helping Vilkas clear his mind. _'Maybe today won't be so bad after all.'_

"Vilkas?" An all too familiar voice makes him become tense and have his head ache slowly pulse back into his head. _'I spoke too soon.'_ He thought to himself with a low groan escaping him. He slowly opens his eyes and then turns his head to look at who he already knows is there.

It was Haelga, standing just a few feet away from him with her arms crossed and a crooked smile planted on her face. "When did you get into town?" She asked, taking a couple steps towards him. "Last night." He replied while clearing his throat.

"Really?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. "And you didn't come see me? Aw Vilkas, I'm hurt." She said while pretending to pout. "You would think after our time together the last time you were here, I would deserve a little visit." She said with a grin spreading across her face and hunger filling in her eyes. Hunger caused by memories of a night that Vilkas also remembered very well.

It was a couple of months ago when Vilkas was in Riften last. He was doing a job in the area and after it was completed, he needed a drink. Just thinking about that job made his chest ache with great pain.

He was to track down an escaped criminal and kill them. He was told that they were very dangerous and he believed that to be true, until he met the so called criminal. "Please! I only want to return home to my family!" He cried and begged while being on his knees. Vilkas had cut him on the side with his blade and before he could finish the job, the criminal fell down before him and pleaded for his life.

The image of the man with tears streaming down his panicked face was all still too fresh and often put in the very debts of his mind. That day, he had to make a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"I only did it for the coin I swear! I needed to feed my wife and children, they were starving!" He cried.

Vilkas remembered standing over him with his blade gripped tightly in hand. He stared down at the criminal with un ease in his heart. The man's reasons were reasons enough to do what he did, but he still broke the law. He was still a criminal, no matter the reasons behind his crime.

Honor would have Vilkas strike the man down and make him pay for his crimes. But something held him back, something heavy in his chest caused him to slowly lower his blade down while staring into the eyes of the criminal. Into the eyes of an innocent man who only did what he had to, to keep his family going.

Any man would do that for their family, wouldn't they? Why was he to be excuted on the spot instead of being taken back to prison to serve his sentence? It didn't make sense to Vilkas and it nearly made him sheathe his blade and walk away.

But then... _'If this man is to be able to walk away from his crimes only because of his claims, then what message would that send to other criminals?'_ His grip tightened and he slowly rose the blade back up into the air. _'If I let him get away with it, then others will think they too can get away with their crime.'_

"I'm sorry." Is what he had said before piercing him in the chest with his blade. He cried and then looked into Vilkas's eyes with sheer disbelief and then anguish before taking his final breath.

He had looked at Vilkas like he was the criminal instead of him, and to this day, it still hurt.

So he definitely needed a drink after that job. He had immediately went to the Tavern in Riften and drank away his thoughts and regrets that night. That's when Haelga found him, Vilkas assumed that she had sensed his grief and vulnerability, so she stalked over to him like a saber would it's prey.

The first thing she did was trace a finger up his arm, causing shivers to run down his spine before taking a seat next to him. "Drinking your problems away like most of the sad sods in this place tonight?" Is what she had said with a coy smile on her face.

Vilkas had quickly scoffed at her before taking another big gulp of his mead. "Go away wench." Is what he had said while swallowing that big gulp. "I'm not interested." He told her with is mug slamming back down on the table.

"Wench?" She questioned with an eyebrow raised. "Yes, wench!" Vilkas shouted drunk like. "I know your type, always stalking the tavern's at night for a lover to fill that empty black hole inside you and by the looks of you, I'd say that black hole of yours has probably been well filled by now."

She scoffed defensively while crossing her arms over her breast. "I am no wench, that is not the kind of person I am." She told him, but Vilkas didn't believe a word of it. At least at first he didn't. "If I do anything with anyone, it's either because I've found a lover or because of my faith."

Vilkas slightly turned his head to her and cocked an eyebrow up. "Faith?" He questioned. Her lips curved into a luring smile. "That's right." She said with a nod. "I am a worshiper of Dibella, the goddess of beauty."

"Ha!" He laughed out loudly. "Don't you mean the goddess of whores and lepers?" He said with a smirk. Haelga quickly scoffed and looked away from him. "You're lucky one of Dibella's teachings is forgiveness or I just might of taken defense to that." She replied with a scowl.

"Whatever." Vilkas sighed as he poured himself some more mead. Haelga shifted her eyes back to him and watched him fill his mug up all the way to the top. It was obvious something was on his mind, that was the reason she went over to him in the first place. His distress was showing so much that he lit up like a beacon. So Haelga was going to do what any good follower of Dibella would do.

"Speaking of forgiveness." She said while slowly scooting her chair closer to him. Vilkas watched her with a lifted eyebrow and cautious eyes. "You look like you could use some." She said with a half smile. Vilkas just scoffed at her and turned away. "You don't know anything." He mumbled.

"And I don't need to know anything, but I do want you to know..." She trails off while slowly leaning towards Vilkas with her chest set on the table. "Dibella is not only the goddess of beauty, she is also the goddess of love and affection." She whispered with another luring smile. "And?" Vilkas questioned with a scowl.

"And...you look like you could use those too." She purred with a finger slowly trailing up his arm. Vilkas shivered at her touch and was about to brush it off and tell her to go away, but then, she was right.

That day hadn't been Vilkas's only bad day, he felt like that very week the gods were out to get him.

So he sat there, thinking for quite some time before quickly chugging down the rest of his mead and then turning to the woman that was next to him. Before he said anything though, he needed to get a good look at her. He wanted to make sure she at least looked better than she sounded, and to his liking she did.

"Okay." He spoke with eyes hazing over with lust. "Is there something you have in mind to fix my problem?" He said with a low growl that ended up making her shiver like she made him. Slowly, a smile crept over her face as she got up from her chair, then while backing away from him she did the "come here" motion with her index finger.

Vilkas watched her for a moment and then quickly got up to follow her into a night he did not expect to go so well. In fact, it was one of the best nights he had in a long time. Then afterwords she gave him some weird token that she called the mark of Dibella. She told him to keep it to remember the love she gave him that night, he thought it was a nice sentiment but just ended up throwing it in a river after he left Riften.

Even though that night was great and it should of been one he remembered, he didn't. He put it in the back of his mind a long with the other memories he didn't dare touch. Because to him, that night was just a reminder that he needed someone like Haelga to make him feel better.

He slowly opened his mouth to reply but the door opening behind him stopped him and made him and Haelga both look at it. He was relieved to see that it was Hope coming outside.

"Sorry if I took too long, I had trouble getting my...bow..." She slowly trailed off from her sentence after sensing the uncomfortable air around him. She stopped right behind him and instantly turned to look at Haelga. They both stared at each with furrowed eyebrows. "Hope." Vilkas spoke, breaking the weird silence.

Hope looked up at him with a lifted eyebrow. "Friend of yours Vilkas?" Haelga asked, bringing both of their attention back to her. "She's a fellow Companion." He told her.

"Oh I see." She laughed out weirdly, making them both lift an eyebrow up at her. "For a moment there, I thought you found another lover." She said with a crooked smile. "Lover?" Hope questioned.

"Oh yes." Haela replied with a nod. "It's been a couple of months, but I know after the night we had...well...there's really no other word to describe each other." She said as her eyes slowly shifted back to Vilkas. Her eyes penetrated him like knives...covered in honey...making him shudder.

"Hm." Hope hummed with her eyes going back up to him. She could see sweat beading on his brow and then watched him clench and un-clench his fists. He may be a lover to her but something was telling Hope that Haelga wasn't quite that to him.

"Well okay then." Hope nodded as she crossed her arms. "I'll give you a moment with your _lover_ Vilkas and just go wait by the gate." She said with a small smirk forming on her face. Haelga looked more than pleased to hear that, but Vilkas didn't. His throat tightened and his stomach churned while he watched Hope start to walk away from them.

She passed him, but she didn't get very far. He had quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. Then in a swift motion, he pulled her against him and held the side of her face in his hand. "There's no need to get jealous." He purred with a low voice making Hope's eyes widen. "Haelga and I spent a night together, but there's no one else in this world for me but you." He whispered with his face drawing near hers. "You're the only lover I need."

Hope's face flared up so fast that he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. His words and his actions were pay back, pay back for what she was about to do. He saw the little smirk she flashed him before trying to flee, so he was punishing her with emotions.

Emotions that he knew she felt and that he felt as well. Those words that left his mouth were to just be a joke, but they left him easily. In fact, it was so easy to say those things, that it was a little unsettling. Just what could that mean?

There's that damn question again.

Haelga loudly cleared her throat, making Hope and Vilkas both look at her. She was shifting around uncomfortably on her feet. "I'll just leave you two then." Is all she said with the sides of her cheeks slowly turning a light red. Vilkas heard disappointed in her voice and saw it in her eyes, but he didn't care. He was just glad that his little joke was believable and made Haelga go away.

"Let go of me." Hope said in a surprisingly low voice. Vilkas turned his face to her with a lifted eyebrow. She was staring up at him with her eyebrows furrowed and a glare in her eyes. "Why? I meant what I said." He told her with a smirk. She scoffed at him and then quickly pushed him off of her.

She then stood up straight and brushed her armor off, like she was trying to brush the feeling of him being so close off. "So..." She cleared her throat and looked back up at him. "I see you have lovers all over." She said with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Vilkas cocked an eyebrow up at her. "What can I say? I'm just that good." He said with a smirk. Hope's eyes widened as her face flared up red again, she then furrowed her eyebrows down at him and gave him one mean glare that almost had him wincing.

"Let's just go." She mumbled before turning her back to him and storming off. Vilkas couldn't help but chuckle as he followed after her.

When they crossed the small bridge that led to Riften's gate, they passed a man and a woman that was quietly arguing. Vilkas passed them with out thinking much of it, but Hope looked back at them. Not because of the argument, but because of what the woman was wearing.

It was some type of leather armor that Hope had never seen before, and she liked it. It looked like it was made to be light but effective against blows. The way the leather top wrapped around her body showed how much flexibility the woman would have if she was ever in a fight.

Hope stopped walking and continued to eye the peculiar set of armor. She examined everything from the belts to the extra pockets, it was definitely a set she wanted but maybe with a few different modifications to suite her fighting styles. _'I wonder if Eorlund can make me something like that...'_

"Hey you coming?" Vilkas's voice made Hope quickly snap out of her thoughts. She quickly turned to look at him and saw he was already near the gate, waiting for her. She took one last look at the woman and then ran off to join Vilkas at the gate.

"What were you doing?" He asked with a lifted eyebrow. "Nothing." Hope answered while walking past him and then pushing the large wooden gates open.

When they both exited the city and began to be on their way, Hope asked. "So, how far are these bandits from Riften?"

"Not far." Vilkas answered while getting out his map from his pack. He unrolled it and examined it for a moment. "Like Maven said, the bandit's fortress is East of Riften but it's not even a full days journey. We should get there by lunch time if we don't make any stops." He explained while rolling the map back up and placing it in his pack.

Hope turned her face away from him and looked down at the ground while they walked. She sifted through some thoughts in her head for a moment and then quietly asked. "How many do you think there will be?"

Vilkas turned his face to her with a lifted eyebrow and examined her for a moment. He could hear the nervousness in her voice and see the unease in her eyes. He understood how she felt, it was her first tough job that involved killing people and he too remembered how he felt when he had his first job like this.

"I don't know." He finally answered. "But we'll be fine, just stay behind me and follow my lead." He said with a confident smile. But she didn't buy it, she just kept walking with her eyes facing the ground.

Facing bandits didn't settle well with her and killing them definitly didn't settle well. The last time she faced bandits is when she was held hostage by one years ago and when she thought of that memory, she only thought of the blood and the sounds the swords made when they pierced through flesh. It was something she knew she was about to go through and she didn't know if she was going to be able to handle it.


	25. Chapter 25

They walked along the road from Riften for quite some time, mostly in silence. Vilkas would try to talk about what plan he had for when they got there, but Hope never heard a word of it. She seemed to be lost in thought and he knew it was because of her nerves and he understood them well, even though they did cause him some worry.

Worry that they would get in the way of their job and cause them loss of coin or perhaps even a life. _'No.'_ He told himself, shaking away the fearful thoughts. They were going to be fine and they were both going to make it through it just fine.

He had to keep telling himself that, otherwise his worrisome thoughts would get the best of him and he couldn't have that. He couldn't worry because worry causes panic and panic would cause him to lose focus, which he really couldn't have happen. He needed to stay focused no matter what, Hope's life just may very well depend on it.

"Stop." Vilkas said as he did just that. Hope walked a couple of steps ahead of him before realizing what he had said. She quickly stopped in her tracks and then spun around to face him. Vilkas examined her for a moment, catching another glimpse of her nerves showing. Then, with a small sigh he turns his face in the direction of a path next to him that led into the trees.

"It's down this way." He told her with his index finger pointing down the path. "O-oh, okay." She stammered while beginning to walk down the path quickly. Vilkas watched her with a raised eyebrow and then followed after her.  
When he caught up to her, he quickly took the lead and led them down the path. The farther they walked through the trees the thicker the forest became, and Vilkas didn't like it. He knew they were drawing near the bandit's fortress and knew he needed to keep an eye out for their surroundings in case there may be any watch. But the trees made that difficult and made him feel uneasy.

"We're getting closer." He whispered to Hope. "Keep an eye out and tell me if you see any kind of movement within the trees." He told her. Hope gulped down a rising lump of fear down her throat and then gave him a hesitant nod.

They walked down the path and through the trees a bit longer before coming upon the large fortress that the bandits called home. They both stopped and stood in front of it with both of their heads leaning back so that they can see the large structure fully. Vilkas expected their fortress to be big, but...not this big.

"Okay." Vilkas said in a sigh as he gave the fortress one more look over. "You ready?" He asked while turning his head towards Hope. He raised his eyebrows up in concern when he saw the look on her face.

At some point after coming upon the fortress, Hope's color had vanished from her face and her eyes were so wide that they nearly took up half of her face. "We're..." She trailed off to swallow another lump rising in her throat. She then slowly lowered her head, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

Vilkas gave her a moment and waited patiently. After standing there like that for a few seconds, Hope slowly opens her eyes and looks back up at the large structure before them. "We're supposed to kill every person in that place?" She asked in a fearful whisper.

"We are." He replied simply. He watched her jaw tighten and her eyes shut again. While staring at her, he couldn't help but feel a little concerned for her. If the bandits inside were to see her in fear like this...well...it didn't paint a pretty picture in his mind.

"Hey." He spoke, grabbing her attention. He stepped in front of her and faced her fully so that he could look her directly in the eye. Hope looked up at him with fear clouding her eyes and worry making her bottom lip tremble.

"You want to be a warrior right?" Vilkas asked while gently laying a hand on top of her shoulder. Hope shifted her eyes to his hand and then moved them back up to his face. She nodded in response. "Well this is what warrior's do." He said with his head gesturing back towards the fortress.

Hope's eyes now fill with confusion with her eyebrows knitting together. "Kill people?" She questioned with bewilderment in her voice.

"Not people." Vilkas said with his head shaking. "Are those in there not people?" She questioned again with her head gesturing towards the fortress. "No." He answered. "You're no longer a person once you've killed someone just for the shear joy of it."

"So don't think of them as people, because they're not. They gave up that right when they decided to join banditry and murder, okay?"

She stared up at him for a moment, examining the confidence and assurance in his eyes. Then she shifted her eyes to the fortress just behind him and stared at it for a moment before giving him a breathy reply. "Okay."

Vilkas gave her a calming smile while unthinkingly caressing the side of her face. It took Hope by surprise as it did Vilkas. She looked up at him and they both stood there, just staring at each other for a moment.

Then after awkwardly clearing his throat, he slowly retracted his hand from her face and turned around to face the large fortress that stood behind him. "We don't know what we will find when we get inside so just stay behind me, stay quiet, and follow my lead." He instructed her. Hope nodded in response and then began walking towards the bandit's fortress with Vilkas leading in front.

They approach it carefully and quietly. Vilkas eyed the tops of the fortress in case any look outs were walking the ledges, but to his surprise there were non. _'Must be confident in where they are hiding.'_ He thought to himself while walking up to the door with Hope.

"I'll go in first and take a look around, stay out here till I give the okay." Vilkas instructed. Before she could reply, Vilkas had already opened the door and walked inside. So, with a heavy sigh and an anxious feeling stirring up inside her, she waits outside.

The first room behind the door was nothing more than what looked like some sort of sitting area. It was a very small rectangular room with two benches sitting against walls that were opposite of each other. In front of him was another door and behind that door, were voices. "Okay." He sighed to himself as he slowly and quietly backed out of the room.

When he steps foot outside, he turns around to face Hope. "The first room is empty, it's nothing more than a small sitting area but there's a door that connects it to what I think may be a bigger room because I heard voices from behind it." He explained.

He watched Hope swallow down a lump in her throat, take a deep breath, and then ask. "How many voices did you hear?"

"I'm not sure, a few." He replied.

To that, Hope shut her eyes tight and then gave a small understanding nod in response. "You ready to do this?" Vilkas asked with concern showing in his voice.

Hope quickly opened her eyes back up and stared at Vilkas for a moment, examining him. His concern wasn't only showing in his voice, it was also showing in his eyes. But what was he concerned about? Was his concern for her? For him? Or for the job getting done right?

 _'A warrior never shows their emotions in battle, showing your emotions gives the enemy leverage and gives them an advantage you don't want them to have.'_ Aela's voice echoed in her mind. That was something she had told her when they first started training together and if she were to see the condition Hope was in now, she would probably punch her in the gut till she spilled out her breakfast.

Remembering Aela's words made Hope feel like a coward, made her feel like she was a sorry excuse for a warrior. If she can't do this job, if she can't put down a simple bandit, then how can she ever call herself a worthy Companion? How can she prove herself to the others, to Kodlak, that she was ready?

"Hope?" Vilkas's voice sounded distant but it still brought her out of her thoughts. She blinked a couple of times and then looked at him, seeing more worry spill from his eyes and that made her doubt herself even more. What must Vilkas think of her? She wonders. He must see her as a coward more than she does. In fact, he's probably already coming up with reasons why she isn't ready and she wouldn't blame him if he was.

The longer Vilkas stared at her like that, the more it bubbled something inside of her. He was standing there, staring down at her like she was a little girl who had a monster hiding under her bed. _'We would of gotten the job done if Hope wasn't such a coward!'_ His voice echoed in her mind. He hadn't said those things but she was positive he would say them if they didn't get this right.

 _'The Companions have no place for someone like you, go back to being a bar maid.'_ There's his voice again, mocking her and angering her. Again, he's never said those things but they still came to her mind clearly, so he might-as-well have said them.

Those were things he would hold over her for the rest of her life and imagining a smug grin on his face when he said them made her insides bubble more. No, she can't have that. She may not be able to stomach the thought of killing someone, but she wasn't about to allow Vilkas to hold one over her. Again, no she can't have that.

So, she straightens herself up, furrows her eyebrows down at him and puffs her chest out. "Stop looking at me like that." She said with a bit more venom in her voice than she meant. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows right back at her, confused by the change of attitude. "Are we going to do this or what?" She questioned with her arms crossed while walking past him to get into the fortress.

Before she could reach the second door, Vilkas quickly jumped in front of her, stopping her. "Hold on!" He hissed while placing a hand on the wooden door. Hope looked up at him with a lifted eyebrow. "I said to stay behind me, we still don't know what we're walking into." He told her.

"Okay but if you're leading then you're going to have to be quiet." She said. Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up at her in question to that. "Like you said, we don't know what we're walking into so we should get down and peek through the door first before walking in." She explained.

Vilkas blinked at her for a moment, as if he was now realizing that fact. "Right." He said while clearing his throat. "I was just about to say that."

 _'Right.'_ She thought to herself with her eyes rolling.

They both quickly get down to their knees while Vilkas slowly and very quietly, opens the wooden door to a small crack. He tries to peek in but the crack was too small and he knew if he opened the door any more they would be noticed. So he allows some of the wolf inside him to rise to the surface and quietly inhale the air seeping through the small crack between the door and the wall.

By the heavy smell of sweat and mead, he knew there were more in there then they could take. Well more that he and Hope could take. If he had his brother or perhaps Skjor, they would be able to take them out quickly. But Hope was new to this and not to mention she was messing her pants only moments ago. So they needed to try and slip by them for now and then figure out what do with them later.

So, after pretending to be able to see through the small crack. He slowly closes the door and turns his face to Hope. "There's too many in there." He told her with a small sigh. "How many?" She asked with nervousness showing in her voice but it was obvious she was trying to hide it. Vilkas looked away from her and secretly rolled his eyes. "Too many." He said making her furrow her eyebrows down at him in response.

"Okay, so what do we do from here?" She asked. Vilkas looked back at her and then looked down at the floor with his eyebrows furrowed, thinking. "I'm not sure." He muttered out loud. "We need to find some way around them for now but I don't know how yet." He admitted. Hope stared at him for a moment and then let out an irritated sigh. "Move." She said. "Let me look."

Vilkas quickly looked back up at her, now with his eyebrows furrowed down at her. "What? No, I said follow my lead."

"And that, is just you sitting here." She pointed out. "Now, move!" She whispered loudly trying to push him out of the way but he holds an arm up and blocks her hands. "No!" He argued in a whisper. "I'm not about to let someone who was just messing themselves over this job take the lead!"

 _'There it is, I knew he would say something like this.'_ She thought to herself with a mean scowl on her face. "I'm not trying to take the lead." She told him. "I'm only wanting to look through the door to see if I can see a way around!" She said with another shove aimed at him.

Vilkas blocks again with his arm but ends up losing his balance, causing himself to fall over with Hope falling right over with him. She lands right on top of him and if they weren't in the middle of a job, they both would probably fall over themselves trying to get up and end up getting more tangled into each and then..well...Vilkas would be lying if he said his thoughts hadn't already gone there.

But they were in the middle of the job and Vilkas falling over with Hope right on top of him, gave her an opportunity to quickly crawl over him and get to the door. "Be quiet!" He hissed when he heard the door creek as she opened it. "Shut up, they'll hear **you**!" She hissed back while peeking through.

Luckily, nobody heard them and Hope was able to get a good view of the room. Like Vilkas suspected, it was a large room and it was full of several people. She counted at least ten and there was no telling if there were any more hiding behind walls in the room.

She moved her eyes up and saw a poorly made wooden bridge connecting two floors together that seemed to be on the second story of the building. Walking across the bridge was an archer, a look out that wondered around the higher floors of the fortress. She then moves her eyes back down and watches a couple of bandits take a seat at a table and then sees a couple more walk down a long hallway that was on the opposite side of the large room and it looked like it led to some stairs because from where Hope was, there looked like to be a drop off at the end of that hallway.

"Well?" Vilkas asked, growing impatient. "You're right, there's too many for us to handle at the moment but they all look relaxed, too relaxed." She explained.

"Okay, so?" Vilkas questioned with furrowed eyebrows. "So, that means their guard is down and we just might be able to slip by them if I can find an alternate route around the room." She explained more. "You're the senior Companion here, why haven't you thought of this?" She questioned with a smirk.

 _'Senior?'_ He thought to himself with his eyebrows furrowed and a frown taking form on his face. He then quickly looks back to Hope and scoots closer to her back. "Shut it, you pushed me before I could think of anything." He claimed.

"Right." Hope replied with her eyes rolling. "Just look already would ya?" He said with a snarl. She rolled her eyes again in response and then looked again through the crack of the door. She scanned the room the best she could, but her line of sight was limited by the wall next to the door. But judging by the way the wall just a few feet away in front of the door sharply turned left, she assumed that there was a way to go around the bandits. At least she hoped there was.

"Okay." She sighed as she scooted away from the door. She accidentally bumps into Vilkas, causing him to nearly fall over again, but he quickly catches himself and then looks back at her. "Did you see a way around?" He asked.

"I did." She replied with a nod. "But in order to open the door fully and go around the room, we're going to need to distract them." She explained.

"Distract them? Distract them..." He thought out-loud with his eyes moving to the floor. Hope waited and watched him patiently. He then moves his eyes up to the bag of arrows on her back. "What?" She questions, noticing the shift in his eyes. "You think you can shoot an arrow through the crack of the door?" He asked with a half grin forming on his face. She lifted an eyebrow up at him and then looked back at the door, thinking.

"Maybe if it was open a little bit more, but..." She trailed off while continuing to stare at the small crack. "But?" Vilkas questioned. "It's an old door, I could barely open it this much with out's creakiness echoing through out the whole building." She said.

"Just do it slowly, you don't need much more room right?" He asked

"No, only a little more." She replied.

"Then do it. Shoot an arrow through the crack of that door and hit something in the distance to avert their attention away." He instructed. Hope nodded in response while slowly grabbing the edge of the door.

Her and Vilkas both took a deep breath as she slowly opened the door. Like they thought it creaked and groaned loudly, making them both cringe.

When the door was opened enough, Hope slowly pulled an arrow out from the bag while also taking her bow off of her back. She positions the arrow through the crack of the door and then slowly knocks it back on the string of her bow.

She eyes the room carefully and notices a cracked vase across the room on a small stand. She watched a bandit pass it and accidentally bump it, causing the table to sway and the vase to wobble. It was clear that one of the legs on the table was loose and made the whole thing unbalanced. The vase on top of it was unstable and looked like it was about to fall off anyways, so it was the perfect thing to shoot at.

But it was far, farther than the targets at Jorrvaskr and farther than any animal she's shot at. She'd usually try to get closer to her targets but that wasn't an option at the moment. "Okay." She whispered to herself as she pulled back her arrow more and aimed it for the vase across the room.

She holds her arrow still while narrowing her eyes at the cracked vase. She can feel her heart thumping against her chest and her throat tightening from her nerves. "Calm down." Vilkas whispers over her shoulder. He can sense her distress and see her arms start to tremble. He watched her slowly shut her eyes, take in a deep breath to calm her racing heart, and then nod in response.

He was right, she needed to calm down. If this was going to work she needed to stay focused and keep her eyes on the target. So while slowly opening her eyes back up, she re-aims her arrow at the vase and takes in another deep breath. She holds that breath for just a moment and then with out wasting any more time, she releases the arrow and watches it fly across the room in a straight line.

She watched it zip past a couple of bandits sitting but they didn't notice it, they just kept on playing a game of cards. Then after what seemed like an eternity, the arrow hits the vase, causing it to split in two and crumble to the ground.

"What was that!?" One of the bandits yelled. "It came from over here!" Another shouted. They both watched every bandit in the room quickly run towards where the arrow hit. "Now's our chance, let's go!" Vilkas said, giving Hope a small push from behind.

Hope didn't hesitate, she quickly pulled the door open enough for them to slip through and then staying close to the wall, they go left into what Hope thought was a way around. But it wasn't.

"Shit." Vilkas cursed as they both came to a quick stop. Hope's jaw dropped open as Vilkas's tightened. What Hope thought may be a way around, ended up just being a dead end. That sharp turn she saw was only a narrow hallway that came to a quick end with a broken table at the end of it. "I thought you said this was a way around!" Vilkas quietly yelled.

"I thought it was!" Hope quietly yelled back. With a sharp sigh leaving him, Vilkas started to quickly back up towards the door. "Come on we need to-"

"Hey!" A shouting bandit cut him off and made them both completely freeze in their places. Vilkas could feel adrenaline start to rise inside him, as it always did whenever he knew he was about to get into a big fight. Hope was feeling something else, it was a whole mess of emotions that caused her to nearly drop her bow and faint.

"Over here! Intruders!" The same bandit yelled, causing everyone else in the room to run over. While hearing several footsteps running towards them Vilkas slowly turns around, preparing himself for what he was about to see.

And what that was, was a dozen bandits standing behind them with their weapons drawn. Vilkas's eyes scanned over them and past them, he was looking for a possible way out of this but there was non. They had no choice but to fight. "Okay Hope, I need you to cover me." He told her as he unequipped his great sword.

"W-what?!" Hope questioned in bewilderment while turning around to face the many bandits like he was. "We have no way out of this but to fight, so if you want to survive this you're going to have to cover me." He told her again with his eyes shifting back to her.

Hope's jaw tightened and her hand clenched around her bow hard. "Alright." She breathed out with a small nod. "You can do this, you've come far as a warrior and a Companion. I believe in you." Inspiring words that Hope was not expecting left Vilkas. She stared at him with her eyes widening and her cheeks growing warm as he continued to speak. "Just remember what Aela taught you, stay calm, stay focused and stay behind me. Hit as many as you can with your arrows."

Hope nodded in response while quickly getting an arrow ready. Her hands trembled a bit when she pulled the arrow back and they were so sweaty she had no idea how she was able to hold onto anything.

"Kill em!" A bandit yelled making the rest charge right for them. The first two that came near Vilkas were quickly taken out with a long sweep of his sword, causing blood to fly and splatter all over the floor and the nearby wall.

A gasp leaves Hope when she sees the blood fly and as she stares at it on the floor with wide eyes, she can feel the color draining from her face.

 _ **SHHHPLECHT!**_ The horrible sound of a blade piercing through flesh made Hope jump and quickly look back to Vilkas. He had just stabbed his sword through the gut of a bandit and since his blade was so large it caused blood to go everywhere, including on Vilkas. The front of his armor was already dripping with it.

Hope watched with her mouth a gape as he pulled his blade out of the bandits torso causing the bandit to immediately hit the ground and sound that made was just as horrible.

Without realizing Hope's eyes were on him, he quickly stabs his blade into another bandit and then yanks it out while spinning around in a complete circle to cut down another bandit behind him.

Blood was being thrown everywhere, some even reached Hope causing a couple of drops to land on her face. She winced as if she had just been punched and then felt her stomach twisting into awful knots making her want to be sick

The scene before her, the blood everywhere, the gods-awful sounds that Vilkas's blade made every time it broke through the flesh of a body, made her drift back to a time she wasn't too fond of. Standing there watching in horror as bodies piled up on the ground before them, she found herself back in Rorikstead and found herself to be a scared little girl again.


	26. Chapter 26

**I hope I didn't cut this chapter off too short ^^". I've been having an awful head ache all day and felt like I couldn't stare at my computer screen for another second or it just might burst. I also want to apologize for the slow updates, I work on the chapters as much as I can but I am going to try and start at least posting two chapters a week ^^" no promises though because I do get busy with life and stuff but I will try my best!**

* * *

It's the blood and the fear that sickened her and made her remember her childhood. Made her remember a memory she didn't like, but held onto.

A memory she held onto for a boy she met that day and who that was, was a mighty Companion that she watched dance around his enemies and watched comfort her when a bandit had his arm around her and a blade at her throat.

He gave her courage that day and made her feel like she could be brave like him and do anything she dreamed of. Now suddenly, at that very moment, Hope was again watching a mighty Companion dance around his enemies, protecting her and trying to give her words of encouragement. A mighty warrior trying to help her feel like she can do anything he can.

Hope watches him plunge his blade into another bandit, but this time it doesn't cause her to wince or look away. Instead it makes her keep watching, but not the attack, it made her watch **him**.

It was the way he fought and the way he looked at her each time he thought she might be in trouble. _'Could it be?'_ She wondered as she watched him elbow a bandit in the face and then spin around to slice his stomach open. _'Could he really be...'_

"Aaaargh!" A shouting bandit knocked Hope out of her thoughts. She quickly moved her eyes up and saw the bandit jumping down from the second floor with an axe held high in the air. He was just above Vilkas and if he was able to land his hit, that would be end of the mighty Companion before her.

So with a quick gasp leaving her, Hope pulls out an arrow and knocks it back in a swift motion. She quickly aimed for the bandit and without any more hesitation, released the arrow.

The arrow soon landed in the side of the bandits neck after it left her hand, making him quickly fall to the floor with a big thud following after. The sound of him chocking on his own blood made Hope want to be sick, but she kept going. She kept knocking back arrow after arrow, shooting at anyone who even came near Vilkas.

She wasn't sure what had gotten to her, she wasn't sure what suddenly made her so brave and quick, but she was sure that the thought of losing Vilkas to this job because of her fear, made something horrible stir inside her. She may hate herself afterwords, she may have nightmares the night following, but she was going to make damn sure that at least he was going to make it through this. Little did she know that the very same thought was also going through Vilkas's head.

During the fight, Vilkas had no clue that Hope had joined the battle, he was so focused on keeping them away from her that he just assumed she backed up and ducked down in a corner. That was until an arrow flew past his head and landed in one of the bandits eyes.

Vilkas watched the bandit land on the floor hard and then took a second to look back at Hope. He was surprised to see her shooting off arrows so quickly, she would miss several times but eventually would take a couple down.

It was because of her nerves that she missed so much, he could see it in her eyes and see her grow paler from each time an arrow landed in somebody. But she didn't stop, it seemed she finally realized that it was either them or the bandits, or at least that's what he thought. So, after giving Hope a confident smile, he turned around and continued to cut down any bandits that were dumb enough to get close to his blade.

 _'They're not people.'_ Vilkas's words rang in her ears as she shot down each bandit. _'They're not people.'_ Now it's her own voice inside her head trying to convince herself she wasn't killing another human being. It was the only thing that kept her going, it was the only thing that allowed her to pull an arrow back.

Then finally, after what seemed like forever, all of the bandits in that room were dead and they could take a small break.

Vilkas slowly lowers his giant blade as he looks down at the bodies with his chest rising and falling rapidly. "Hah..." He chuckled between his heavy breaths as he counted how many bandits were taken down by Hope's arrows.

"Good work." He said while sheathing his great sword. He then turns around to face her and sees her staring at him with wide eyes and a big frown on her face. He examined her for a moment and then gave her another confident smile. "You actually got a good amount of kills." He told her with pride showing in his voice.

But she didn't feel proud, she felt sick and him telling her that threw her over the edge. Vilkas's eyebrows knit together when he sees more of her color face and her eyes become watery. "Hope, you okay?" He asked with his head tilting to the side

Instead of responding, she only stared at him for a moment longer and then in a swift motion she spins around and vomits all over the place. "Oh." Vilkas quickly turns around so he doesn't have to see that. Then after awkwardly clearing his throat he asks again. "You okay?"

He hears her dry heave a little and then take in a deep breath of air. After wiping her mouth off with her arm, she slowly stands back up straight and turns back around to look at him. "How many..." She trails off to collect her words.

Vilkas slightly turns and looks at her with an eyebrow lifted. He watches her close her eyes and take in another deep breath. "How many did we...kill?" She asked in a hushed voice, clearly having trouble getting out that last word.

Vilkas stares at her for a moment longer and then turns around to count the bodies. "I count at least thirteen." He told her.

"Thir..." She trails off, not being able to form a full sentence for fear of getting sick again. "Yeah, more must of ran in when they heard the fighting." He casually replied.

He turned back around and lifted an eyebrow when he saw her bending over with her hands resting on the tops of her legs. "Hope..." Vilkas spoke softly with his eyebrows now knitting together in concern.

He watched her shoulders slowly rise and then slowly fall. It was clear to him that she was having a hard time accepting what they had just done. "Hey..." He spoke softly again as he cautiously approached her, just in case she threw up again.

When he felt like he was close enough, he extended an arm and rested his hand on her back. "It's okay Hope." He said calmly. "Is it?" She questioned with nausea being heard in her voice.

Vilkas slowly took a step back, removing his hand from her. "Remember what I said? They're not-"

"They're not people, yeah I remember." She quickly cuts him off with her face slowly rising so that she meets his eyes. He can see a bit of her color returning but now there were tears streaming down from her eyes. "I don't know about you Vilkas but they sure did look like people to me." She said while standing up straight again.

He tightened his jaw as he watched her look around at the dead bodies around them with regret filling her eyes. It was hard for him to grasp at the moment because to him, all he was seeing were people-no animals, that enjoyed robbing and killing others. But Hope was seeing something different, it was clear to him that in her eyes, she was seeing people that she just killed.

"Who are we to judge and kill..." He heard her mumble as she continued to eye the dead around them.

Suddenly the image of the man who begged for his life on his knees flashed in Vilkas's mind. _'Who are we to judge and kill...'_ He repeats her words in his mind. It was something every honorable warrior should ask themselves but...when someone has been doing something like this as long as Vilkas has...such innocent and naive thinking like that seems to disappear with time.

He envied her for those thing though and he wished that she would keep them with her. But he knew she wouldn't, it was only a matter of time before they faded away within her just like it did with all of the others. Being innocent and naive was something they couldn't afford to be, in order to be like them...like him, she would have to some day put such things aside and do the right thing. _'But what exactly is the right thing?'_ That was a question Vilkas asked himself all too often and it caused doubt to grow within him and doubt was definitely something he couldn't afford to have.

"Come on." He said, finally breaking himself free from his troublesome thoughts. "Let's continue on, we don't know how many more there are to deal with."

Hope looked back up at him and stared at him strange like for a moment, as if something popped up into her mind but before letting it take over, she quickly shook her head and then gave him a nod. Vilkas cocked an eyebrow up at her before turning and stepping over the dead bodies so that they can continue further on into the fortress.

They both walk down the long hall that Hope spotted earlier. She eye'd the walls around them and counted three doors on each side. Vilkas suggested going through the rooms to see if any bandits might be hiding inside him. Hope wasn't thrilled about it, but she agreed.

Vilkas took one set of doors while Hope took the other. Every room Vilkas looked in and searched were only small sleeping chambers that ended up being empty. While letting out a sigh, he shuts the last door and turn around to look at Hope. She was beginning to open the last door to the last room, the other two were just like the rooms Vilkas had searched, empty sleeping chambers.

When she got the last door open, she was expecting it to be another empty room but was surprised when she saw that it wasn't. Vilkas watched her eyebrows shoot up and saw her peek her head in the room. "What?" Vilkas asked while making his way over to her.

"This door leads to a short hallway that has stairs going up at the end of it." She told him while stepping into the small hallway. Vilkas followed behind her and when he stepped through the doorway, his eyes immediately fell on the giant set of stone stairs that spiraled up into what he guessed was the top of the fortress.

"Hm." He hummed out loudly while continuing to eye the spiraling stairs. "We'll check it out later." He said. Hope quickly looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "Why later?" She asked. "Because there's another set of stairs at the end of that hallway that leads down into the fortress. I'm guessing it goes down into a cellar or some kind of dungeon." He replied with his head turning towards the hallway through the doorway.

 _'Dungeon?'_ Hope didn't like the sound of that, in fact it gave her shivers just thinking about it. "How about you go check that out and I'll go see what's up these stairs." She said with her thumb pointing in the direction of the large set of stairs.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down and quickly looked back at Hope and questioned her with bewilderment in his voice. "What? You're saying split up?"

"It'll be faster if we do." She said with a shrug. "No way." Vilkas replied with his head shaking and arms crossing over his chest. She quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him and crossed her own arms over her chest. "Why not?" She asked.

"Because this your first time doing a job like this, it would be stupid and irresponsible of me to let you go on your own. Especially after the way you lost your nerv this morning and the way you got sick after killing only a few bandits." He said.

Hope scowled while quickly turning her head away from him. "I'll be fine." She said with her eyes moving up the stairs. "It probably just leads to the roof or something."

"Doesn't matter where it leads, you're not going off by yourself." He said with his arms remaining crossed. Hope looks back at him with her eyebrows furrowed but he just furrowed his right back, showing the same amount of stubbornness she was.

They both stood there like that for a moment, with their arms crossed and eyes burning into each other. "Okay fine." She sighed, finally giving in with her arms uncrossing. A half grin formed on Vilkas's face before he turned around and walked through the doorway.

Hope followed him for a little ways, at least to the stair case leading down the fortress. She stopped at the top of them and watched him slowly creep down the stairs. He was hugging one of the walls with his eyes narrowing forward and his lungs taking in deep breaths. He was smelling the air for any kind of scent or odor.

Hope walked down the stairs a couple of steps and then stopped, waiting for Vilkas to get further down and to disappear into the darkness of whatever room was at the bottom. Once he was out of sight, she backed up the two steps behind her and then turned on her heel to head back towards the other set of stairs with a grin on her face.

She was nervous about going there alone but she suspected that those stairs only led to the second floor that she saw hang openly above the floor that was now littered with dead bodies. If that was the case then she knew for certain that no bandits would be there because any that walked on that floor jumped down to the first floor earlier to join the battle.

At least she hoped that was the case, because if she did run into any more bandits up there she would either have to fight them on her own or turn tail and run back to Vilkas. She stopped short in front of the large spiraling stairs and looked up them for a moment, thinking. _'Maybe I should just go back to Vilkas...'_ She thought to herself with her stomach twisting and turning into all kinds of knots.

She stood there completely still with her fingers rapidly tapping on the sides of her legs. It was completely quiet around her and all she could hear was the light _**taps**_ her fingers made every time they hit the leather pants she always wore with her iron armor.

Why did she even want to go up there alone in the first place? Was it because she didn't want to go into whatever dark room down below the fortress Vilkas had wondered down in? Was it because she preferred an unknown area full of light than full of darkness? If that was the case, then would that make her a coward?

 _'No.'_ She quickly shook her head with her eyes squeezed shut to get herself out of those thoughts. _'I'm going up there because it'll be faster to search the rest of the fortress if we're split up.'_ Is what she told herself to justify her actions. _'And so what if they're a few bandits up there, I took out a few earlier, I'm sure the second time will be easier.'_ She tells herself again, this time trying to force courage to untwist the knots in her stomach.

So, after taking a couple of deep...deep breaths, Hope begins to walk up the stairs. She goes slow and quiet with a hand resting on the surface of the turning wall. She's slightly bent down with her eyes staying a head of her, not daring to dart them away for fear someone was waiting a few steps a head of her for that kind of opportunity.

The stairs go on longer then she thought they would. Eventually she comes to a room that breaks off from the stairs, even though the stairs continue on after it. She grew curious and stepped away to inspect the small room.

It had nothing but an old wooden chair in it and on the far side of the room, on the wall was a barred doorway. She furrowed her eyebrows down at it and stepped forward to look between the bars.

It seemed to be some kind of look out point because from where she was standing she could see the whole area of the first floor they were just in, including the second floor that hung above.

When she started walking up the stairs she found it odd that she hadn't come across the second floor as quick as she thought she would, but now looking over it she saw that the floor above the first floor had latters attached to the sides of the walls so that look outs could climb up there. In fact, it didn't seem to be a second floor at all, it was part of the first floor and had no connections to the rest of the fortress. _'Weird.'_ She thought to herself as she backed away from the barred door and turned around to continue on up the stairs.

Vilkas carefully stepped down from the last step and squinted his eyes trying to see through the darkness. He still had no idea what exactly he was walking into and the poor lighting in the room was making him very uneasy.

He kept his breathing steady and continued to breath in heavily for any odd scents he might pick up, but the only scent he found was an old musty, damp cellar smell that burned his nostril. At first it didn't seem odd, it was something he expected to smell when he walked down the stairs. But soon it became odd that the scent of the large dark room was all he was smelling, so he stopped walking and inhaled the air around him deeper and that's when it hit him.

Hope was no longer with him. His eyes widened and his heart dropped, how was it that he didn't know that until now? Her scent was always so strong to him. Every time he breathed in the air around her, his lungs would burn from her scent which caused warmth to spread through out his body.

He quickly turns around and stares out at the large ascending stairs. Was she grabbed from behind? No, that couldn't be it. If any others were with them he would of smelled their scent, bandits usually carried around a strong nasty one. But if that's not what happened then where was she? Why was she no longer with him? Where could she have gone?

Then it hits him, their argument flashes in his head making his brow slowly furrow and a scowl form on his face. _'Did she really...'_ He trailed off from his thoughts to make sense of it. Why would she go off on her own? She was scared shit-less before they walked into the fortress and she also got sick after killing a few bandits. Did she suddenly grow a nerve? Did she do it to spite him?

Whatever the reasons, he wasn't going to have it. Her foolishness was going to get her killed and he promised himself that he would keep that from happening no matter what. So without any more thinking, he charges right for the stairs.

"Finally..." Hope sighed quietly as she saw the stairs were coming to an end. She walked up the remaining few in front of her as fast as she could while still being quiet. After reaching the top, she got down low and hugged a wall while examining her surroundings.

The stairs had led up to a large room that was split in half by a wall and in the center of the wall was a large opening. The half of the room that Hope was in had book shelves lined up against the walls and a large table at the far end of the room with several platters of fresh food placed on it.

She slowly stood up straight while staring at a full weapons rack that stood between a couple of book cases. She started to walk along the wall and then wonder into the other half of the room but hushed voices made her stop short, retrace her steps back, and then press her back against the wall as flat as she could.

Hope can feel panic start to rise inside her quickly making chest tighten along with her breaths becoming quick and short. In order to calm herself down, she had to close her eyes and take deep breaths. _'Relax.'_ She kept telling herself. _'No one saw you, just slowly leave the room and make your way back to Vilkas.'_ She told herself again, but her feet wouldn't move. In fact her whole body refused to listen to her, causing her panic to get worse and her knees start to shake.

 _'Move.'_ She pleaded to herself with her eyes clenching tightly and her bottom lip between her teeth. _'Just move.'_ Now she was begging, but her body still refused to move. It was stuck, frozen with fear.

Tears welded up in her eyes as quiet whimpers escaped from her throat. She should of listened to Vilkas, why did she think it was a good idea to split up? Why did she think she could go off alone without him? A coward like her...should never be allowed to take on anything like this again...she wasn't ready and she didn't deserve to be called a Companion.

The realization of that caused tears to drip from her eyes and stream down her cheeks. She quickly placed a hand over her mouth to cover up the pathetic whimpers leaving her. What would the others say if they saw her now? What would Vilkas say...what would he do?

"Why Riverwood boss?" A voice speaking up from the other half of the room makes her ears twitch and her eyes slowly open back up. "Because I have a bone to pick with the people there." A familiar voice replied.

Hope furrows her eyebrows and removes her hand from her face. _'That voice...'_ She knows it...but...she can't recall who it belongs to. "What exactly will we be doing in Riverwood?" A different voice asks. "We're going to be burning it to the ground." The familiar voice laughed out.

 _'What?!'_ Did she hear that right? "I think we've got enough oil and alcohol from those Black Briar caravans we robbed to be able to make our way to that village soon." A bandit said. "No, we don't have enough yet, we need to at least hit one of their meadery's." The familiar voice said in response.

"I don't know boss, it's one thing to rob their caravans but it's another to actually go for their meadery. The Black Briar's are a pretty powerful family, they could easily have us taken out if they-ARGH!" The bandit speaking was cut off by what Hope suspected was a big punch to the face. "I don't give a damn who they are! If I say we're going to hit a meadery next, then we are going to hit a meadery next!" The familiar voice yelled, causing his voice to echoe through out the stony building.

 _'We can't let them do this...'_ She thought to herself with her fists clenching tightly. She didn't like killing, she didn't like taking a life..but these people...no...they're not people. Anyone who can talk about burning a village down so casually...doesn't deserve to be called a person.

 _'I have to go find Vilkas so we can end this.'_ She thought to herself with courage unknowingly rising up inside her. She took a deep breath and started to slowly move back towards the stairs. It was going well, she was being quiet and keeping her breathing steady and just for a moment, she felt like she was going to make it.

 _ **CLANG! CLIIIIING!**_ The sound of a weapons rack being knocked over echoed through out the room and made any one speaking quickly quiet down.

Hope was so focused on reaching the stairs and finding Vilkas, that she didn't see the small weapons rack laying against wall near her. Her stupidity made her run into it and then trip over all of the weapons that fell down off of it. Soon after the echoing sounds died down she heard rushing footsteps coming towards her, causing her heart to stop and her stomach twist into sickening knots. Then it wasn't long until several bandits stood behind her with their weapons drawn.


	27. Chapter 27

_'What was that?!'_

The sound of metal falling and scraping against stone floor echoed through out the fortress. Vilkas was half way up the stairs when he heard the commotion and then following after, heard several footsteps running. So now he was running and he just couldn't reach the top fast enough.

"Kill her!" One of the bandits yelled as he began to charge, but the leader quickly put out an arm that hit his chest so hard he fell backwards. All of the other bandits stood around him, watching him with confusion filling their eyes.

Something that didn't show in his eyes, instead it was joy that filled his eyes. But not the kind joy that someone gets from sinking their teeth into a warm sweet roll, no , this was joy from the realization that he was about to get revenge that he had been planning for weeks a lot sooner than he thought he would.

"Never imagined I'd see you stumbling on in here." He said with a wicked grin spreading across his face. Hope stares up at him from the ground with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. She never imagined she would run into **him** at this place. In fact, she didn't think she would run into him ever again, or at least that's what she hoped.

The man who caused trouble in Riverwood. He was her first actual job, her first test to see if she **could** a job done and she remembered that she almost didn't get that job done. She remembered how he over powered her and remembered how willing he was to take her in public so that all could see what exactly kind of a person he was, but luck was on her side that day making her able to break free of his grip and take him down.

She had no idea what had happened to him after that, she assumed the villagers threw him out in the mud or maybe he limped away with his tail between his legs. But no, he retreated back to a group of bandits instead, **his** group of bandits. This is something she never would of guessed him being.

"You know this girl boss?" One of the bandits asked. "Aye, I do." He said with his wicked eyes narrowing down on her. The way they shifted down her body and then back up again made her want to be sick and stick a couple of arrows in his eyes.

"I was planning on tracking her down after we burned down that little village, but it seems I have no reason to do that now." He said with his wicked smile remaining on his face. Hope's chest tightens as a lump rises in her throat. She slowly gets back to her feet as she eyes the giant crowd before her. Whatever twists and knots she already had in her stomach were tightening, causing her leg muscles to tense and her breathing to become difficult.

Just how was she going to get out of this? She had a feeling this man was not going to let his goons kill her, but make them capture her instead and the thought of that sent horrid chills down her spine. _'I need to get away and find Vilkas.'_ She thought to herself while swallowing down the large lump in her throat.

"What do you want us to do?" A bandit asked with his hand tightening around the grip of his sword. "Capture her." He replied. _'Knew it.'_

"But be careful, don't want her in too bad of a shape before I can get my own hands on her." He said with another wicked smile. Hope tightened her jaw as she watched a few bandits that were standing in front start to take steps towards her. As they did, she unthinkingly stepped back away from them with a hand held forward, as if warning them to not take another step towards her.

They caught the warning she was sending and looked at one another with chuckles filling the air. Then they look back at her with amused smiles planted on their faces but those smiles don't stay on too long, because soon after turning their heads back towards her, she was gone.

"Get her!" The leader shouted with a booming voice. Everyone in the room jumped into action and quickly went after their fleeing target.

Hearing their footsteps behind her made her heart race and her breathing quicken. Panic was already taking over her body but it wasn't slowing her down any, in fact it was probably the only thing that was making her able to run down large, steep, stony-steps so fast.

She's so focused on the footsteps behind her and so concentrated on getting away that she's barely watching her footing and not paying attention to the twists and turns the walls and stairs were making.

The only thing that was going through her head at that moment was Vilkas, in fact his name was all she thinking. It was repeating several times in her mind as she continued to run away from the roaring footsteps behind her.

" **OOF!** " A sound two makes when they hit each other hard. Hope stumbles back and whoever she ran into stumbles forward. Her heart leaps and her body immediately jumps into action. _'It's another bandit!'_ Is the first thing that comes to her mind, making her quickly reach for her sword.

She grabs the grip and was just about to pull it out until a strong hand grabs her arm and another lays on her shoulder. "Hope it's just me!" Vilkas shouted, hoping his loud voice would knock her out of her frenzy.

Hope stopped pulling at her sword and blinked at Vilkas a few times. Then with a loud gasp leaving her, she quickly pulls him forward and then gets behind him with a finger pointing a head of them. "Vilkas it's him!" She screamed and the moment she did, every bandit that was chasing her was now suddenly in front of them with their weapons drawn.

Vilkas looked to them with wide surprised eyes but they soon turned into a mean glare with his brow furrowing when he saw him walking through the crowd of bandits with a grin on his face. "The gods must really be on my side today!" He laughed out as the bandits stepped aside so he could pass through them.

"The two people I hate most in the world, right in front of me in one day! What luck!" He shouted with his big grin remaining on his face. "Since you're both here, I must assume that someone hired the Companions to come take me and my boys out, right?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Too bad the others stayed behind, would really of loved taking out the entire Companions group in one day, but oh well. Beggars can't be choosers." He said with a shrug and a bigger grin spreading across his face. Vilkas scoffed in response as he took out his great-sword. "Wondered when I'd finally be able to kill you." He said with a scowl on his face.

The bandit's leader laughed at that loudly for a moment and then quickly looked at Vilkas with a serious glare on his face this time while he replied. "My thoughts exactly."

Vilkas sneered at him and then shifted his eyes to the bandits that stood around him. They were too crowded around for him to be able to count how many there were and he knew that there was no way they were going to be able to fight on this stair case. "Hope." He quietly spoke back to her.

Hope looked at him with worrisome eyes. "We can't fight here, we'll be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds. So I need you to go ahead and get your bow ready with an arrow." He told her. She furrowed her eyebrows down at him in confusion and questioned. "Why? You just said we can't fight here."

"I know and we won't. But you need to have your bow ready when we get to the bottom of the stairs, because they'll be running after us in a big line and that will be a good opportunity to take a good amount of them out." He explained.

She understood what he was saying. She knew he was right, but she didn't like it. The thought of killing so many at once like that made her stomach hurt and chest tighten, but she didn't have a choice. If they didn't kill them now, especailly the leader, then there's no telling how many people will suffer in the future.

"What are you idiots standing around for!?" Their leader roared. "Get them!" Right on his command every bandit behind him charged right for them. "Go go go!" Vilkas yelled while quickly blocking a swinging sword.

Hope didn't hesitate, she quickly spun around and then rushed down the stairs with Vilkas soon following after her. The sound of the rushing footsteps behind them was so loud in the narrow stair case that it almost sounded like thunder. Hope can feel her heart thumping hard against her chest as she unthinkingly ducks and dodges some arrows flying past her head.

Finally they reach the end of the stairs and the moment she reaches the doorway, she immediately does what Vilkas had instructed her to do. She spun around to face the stairs with her bow in hand and an arrow already pulled back. She waited for Vilkas to run by and the moment a bandit stuck his head around the turning wall, she let loose her arrow. She didn't expect to hit him with the first arrow but to her surprise she did, it landed right in his eye making him fall and tumble down the rest of the stairs.

She quickly pulled back another arrow and by the time she had it ready another bandit stepped into view and she shot that one down too. This time her arrow landed in his throat making him choke and grab at the blood spilling out as he fell and tumbled down the stairs like the last one.

Then soon after that, another came and then another and then another. But each time one stepped into view Hope already had an arrow ready for them and when she would release an arrow it would hit the bandits every time, but always in a different spot. One of the arrows landed in a bandits waist and it didn't go deep enough to make him fall down, but it did cause enough pain to make him stop and that made other bandits fall into him from behind making them all tumble down the stairs. The ones she didn't hit with her arrows Vilkas took out with his blade.

Each time an arrow landed it made an awful sound, a sound that made her want to be sick, but she didn't get sick. She just kept going, arrow after arrow and bandit after bandit. And she couldn't believe it, she couldn't believe how fast she was able to take out an arrow and how fast she was able to take down a bandit. It must of been her adrenaline, because she felt like earlier she wouldn't of been able to this.

With her eyes focused on the stairs and her hands quickly grabbing at arrows on her back, she starts to feel something rise inside her, something that swelled in her chest and gripped at her heart. It wasn't regret nor grief for what she was doing, no it was quite the opposite of that actually. It was something that was a mixture of confidence and pride. Something that made her think that she just might be able to actually do this and that they just might be able to get through this.

That was until she reached back and found that there was nothing left to grab in her now empty arrow bag. Whatever she was feeling moments ago disappears and is now replaced with the feeling of panic. She grabs at the air around her back again just to make sure she didn't miss an arrow but no, she really was out.

"AAAH!" A charging bandit yelled as he came right for her with a sword held high in the air. Instinct, or perhaps just practice made Hope quickly draw her sword and block the charging bandits blade. For a moment she thought she could hold her position until Vilkas was able to make his way to her, but the bandit was larger and stronger than her and quickly over took her with a huge bash from his sword.

She stumbled back but kept her sword lifted in the air to block any attacks he was swinging her way. "Idiot!" She heard a loud voice yell over the sound of fighting. "I said not to kill her!" The leader roared.

"Huh?" The bandit stupidly questioned as he unthinkingly turned his head to look at his boss. Hope took the opening and with out thinking plunged her blade into his gut. The feeling of her steel blade penetrating through flesh and blood was a sickening pressure she felt in her arms, it was something she would never forget.

Her mouth fell agape as she watched the bandit turn his head and look her in the eyes before the life in them drained and he fell off of her blade.

As the bandit fell to the ground, so did her blade. She stands there, staring at the lifeless body with hands shaking in front of her. "Hope!" Vilkas shouts her name, but it only sounds like a distant echo to her now.

Her eyes slowly move to her hands and what blood spilled out from the wound she gave the bandit was now painted on them. It was someone's blood...someone's life...and she just took it.

 _'Someone's...'_ A loud ringing slowly rises in her ears, tuning out everything else around her. Forcing her to focus only on the blood that painted her hands. _'Blood, a persons...'_

 _'No.'_ Something snaps her out of it, or perhaps someone. _'You are no longer a person once you've killed someone just for the shear joy of it.'_ Vilkas's voice rings in her head, slowly bringing her back.

She blinks down at the blood on her hands and then slowly moves her eyes up to see the fighting before her. She sees Vilkas fighting off three bandits at once but that soon turns into two, because the moment she moves her eyes to him she sees him pierce his blade through one in the stomach.

She watches his mouth form her name in what she guessed was a scream, but she can vaguely hear it because to her at that moment, his voice was still nothing but a distant echo. Now, she slowly turns her attention on to the bandits. She sees several of them laying on the floor but there was still a good amount left, and one of them was charging for her right at that moment.

He has no weapon drawn, only his arms extended and his hands reaching for her. _'That's right.'_ She blinks. _'They don't want to kill me, they want to...'_

Her eyes now shift to the leader and person responsible for this. The man she dealt with in Riverwood, she never did learn his name but she didn't want to. She watches him stand at the end of the stairs with a wicked grin on his face, his eyes filling with a hunger she knew deep down was sinister.

 _'Don't think of them as people, because they're not.'_ There's Vilkas's voice again, now booming in her head as her realization was booming to the surface. _'They're not people.'_

Running feet closing in on her snaps her out of it and makes something click. The bandit stops short in front of her and grabs at her, but she ducks and dodges his long reach. Her actions makes him stumble forward and when he does she takes the opportunity and quickly crawls through the large gap his legs made when he stumbled.

Before standing back up, she quickly grabs her blade off the ground and then gets back up to her feet in a swift motion. By the time she's up on her feet again, the bandit is turned around facing her with his blade now drawn. "Boss said not to kill you, but he didn't anything about cutting a leg off. Only really needs one part of you to work after all." He said with a wicked grin of his own.

What he said and the way he said it...well...giving Hope a bad feeling would be putting it lightly. That's when she truley decided to not to hold back because these people...animals...didn't deserve mercy.

"HEEEEYAA!" The bandit yelled as he swung his sword at Hope, aiming for her thighs. She quickly jumped back, just barely dodging the blade and then jumped back forward with her own sword swinging down hard at the bandit. He quickly blocked her attack and then rammed the edge of his sword into hers, forcing her to stumble back but it didn't make her lose her grip on her sword.

She kept it up and blocked any attacks he had aimed for her and then she saw an opening when he stepped down wrong. She quickly took the opportunity and slammed her own sword into his, forcing him to stumble back this time and nearly lose his grip. It was enough to be able to jump back and kick a leg out underneath him to make him completely fall down to the floor hard.

She hears a loud thud on the cement floor when his head hits it, but she doesn't stop. Even though he wasn't moving and there was a pool of blood gathering beneath his head, she didn't stop. She had to be sure he was dead, they couldn't let a single one escape because these...animals didn't deserve to escape.

"AAAH!" Is what she screamed when she plunged her blade into the chest of the bandit. Hearing it and feeling it break through flesh and bone made her body tense and forced her to quickly look away with her eyes shut.

She stays kneeling next to the un-moving body with her hand still gripping the blade as it remained stabbed into the bandit. She clenched her jaw tightly as she breathed in through her nose deeply and then exhaled through her mouth. She tries to remove the blade from the corpse but the feeling and sound...it was still too much and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Hope." She hears Vilkas breath just a few feet away from her. She slowly opens her eyes and tuns her head to him, she sees him standing with a pile of fresh corpses in front of him. She slowly lets go of the blade and stand to her feet as she eyes the bodies laying on top of each other.

She didn't realize how quiet it had become until standing there like she was. She felt like she should be glad to hear silence instead of the horrible sounds of fighting, but she wasn't. This silence around them was eerie and it felt off.

She moved her eyes back up to Vilkas and opened her mouth to speak but seeing his attention avert else where cut her off. She watched his eyes widen and saw him suddenly jump into action while readying his great sword. That's when she felt cold steal press against her throat, and that's when she's suddenly a little girl again who's way over her head.

"Not one more step!" The leader of the bandits yelled, forcing Vilkas to come to a quick stop. Vilkas snarled and scowled at him as he tightened his grip around his sword. "You come any closer and the girl dies." He breathed, making his hot breath hit against the back of Hope's neck to give her violent shivers.

Vilkas tightened his jaw as he quickly shifted his eyes to Hope. He was surprised to see her as calm as she was, but the moment he looked into her eyes is the moment he realized it was just an act. Her face was straight and her mouth was pursed into a tight line but her eyes, they were screaming with panic and that made Vilkas's chest tighten.

To see her at the mercy of someone else, to see fear in her eyes again and to not be able to do anything about it...well honestly...it sent him back to a day he could never forget.

"Lay down your weapon, nice and easy." Vilkas quickly looked back to the man holding Hope with furrowed eyebrows. _'Lay down your weapons! Nice and easy.'_ A distant memory echoed in his mind and then suddenly, he was a little boy again. Facing a challenge he once had no clue how to handle and in front him, just for a moment, was a scared little girl whose curiosity made her wonder into a cave.

 _'No...'_ He slowly looks back to Hope and the moment he does, their eyes lock. Emerald green eyes that sparkled with bravery back then, now show a similar sparkle. He blinked a few times before realizing that it was no longer fear in her eyes, but courage finally surfacing after she realized an advantage the bandit leader had stupidly given her. Just like he did in Riverwood.

Vilkas sees this oh yes he notices just as she does, but not just about the opportunity she was about to take. In that moment, they both relize something from their past, something similar that was about to take place again. But this time would be different, because Vilkas was no longer a confused little boy and Hope was no longer a scared little girl.

 _ **CRACK!**_ The ugly sound of bones breaking is once again heard after Hope slammed the back of her head into the bandit's leader nose. She knew it was risky to do and knew it could end with her getting her throat sliced, but she had to take the opportunity when it showed itself.

Just like before in Riverwood, the man who was holding Hope hostage let his guard down. She felt the muscles in his arms relax and his footing become slow. It was obvious he was sure of himself in that moment and just knew that he was going to get away with a prize. But he was wrong and now he was going to suffer the consequences.

Vilkas watched his head ricochet backwards after Hope slammed the back of her head into his nose. The action caused him to stumble back and lose his grip on her, giving her a chance to slip out of his arms.

Vilkas expected her to run from the one who was holding her, just like she did back then. But instead of doing what he thought, Hope quickly grabbed the mans large wrist that held the sword and then in a swift motion stepped around him with his arm bending in the direction she was going.

Then the moment she was behind the large man, she pushed his arm forward, forcing him to plunge his own blade into the middle of his back.

Her actions and swift movement took Vilkas by surprise. So much that he was just standing there, watching the large man yell out in pain and then fall foward, hitting the ground with a loud _**THUD**_ being heard afterwords.

Vilkas stared down at the un-moving body for a moment, watching blood pool beneath it, and then slowly looked back up at Hope. She was just standing there, looking down at the one who she just killed with grimace on her face.

Then he watches her slowly move her eyes from that body to all of the others. It seemed she finally realized what they had to do and why they needed to take out the bandits, but it was obvious she was being filled with regret.

"You did good." Vilkas spoke, breaking the heavy silence that filled the air. Hope slowly shifted her eyes to him and only stared at him without speaking a word. He could see a heaviness in her eyes that she was obviously feeling in her heart.

She understood now, she understood that they had no choice, and she understood that if they hadn't killed the bandits this day then something bad would of happened down the road. So yes, she understood, but she didn't like it. In the midst of battle she was able to convince herself that they weren't people, that she was doing a service for everyone else by ridding the world of them. But standing there, staring down at the still bodies covered in blood, made her feel differently.

She slowly lifted her hands up and looked down at the now dried blood that covered them. A flash of the mans face she plunged her blade into came to her mind for a split second. The life draining from his eyes and the way it made her feel, was something she was never going to forget.

"Hope." Vilkas spoke again, making her shift her eyes back up at him. He was looking at her with his eyebrows knit together in concern. "Remember what I said earlier." He told her with a nod.

"Yeah..." She finally spoke.

"They're not people." She said in a sigh as she turned her back to him and walked away.

Vilkas watched her walk away with his own heart feeling heavy. He knew exactly what she was feeling and he wanted to tell her that the more she did this the easier it would become, but he didn't expect that would make her feel better. So he thought it best to just keep that little advice to himself.

Before following after her, Vilkas sheathed his great-sword and then collected her sword and bow. By the time he caught up to her, she was already opening the door that led outside.

When they both stepped out, Vilkas tapped Hope on the shoulder making her turn around and face him. "Oh." She said after realizing her weapons were in Vilkas's arms. She quickly takes them from him and puts them back in their places on her person.

"You okay?" He asked as he watched her straighten out her bow when she placed it on her back. "Yeah." She said in a sigh. "Really?" Vilkas questioned with a lifted eyebrow, he didn't really believe her.

Once her bow was set in place, she turned her head back to him and looked at him with a lifted eyebrow. "What? You don't believe me?" She questioned back.

"No." He said plainly making her quickly furrow her eyebrows down at him. She stared at him for a moment and then after letting out an annoyed sigh, she looked away. "I guess I could use a bath, to get all of this...off of me." She said with her eyes moving down to her bloody hands again.

Vilkas watched her and then let out a sigh while walking past her. "I'm sure there's a river here somewhere, you can wash off before we eat lunch." He said.

Hope felt relieved to hear that, she was eager to get the blood off of her. "You should probably wash off too." She said while following after him.

"Why's that?" Vilkas asked as he continued to walk. "Because you're more of a mess than I am." She said with a small chuckle.

Vilkas stopped walking and turned around to look at her with a lifted eyebrow and a half smile. Hearing her chuckle surprised him but it was a welcome sound. He was afraid she would remain quiet and broody after what they just did.

He saw a small smile form on her face, but it was only her mouth that showed a smile. When he looked into her eyes, he could still see a heaviness in them. Which meant she was putting up an act. He wanted to not care, he wanted to tell himself that it was better than an awkward silence between them, but he just couldn't.

So he needed to distract her somehow, bring up something that would take her mind off of the blood that she spilled. And he knew just what to do.

It was something that would come up eventually, something that needed to come up between them, so why not bring it up now? "So..." He started with his eyes slowly trailing away from her.

Hope lifted an eyebrow at him as she waited for more to come from him. "Is Hope really your name?" He asked with a small smile forming, knowing his question made her become tense.

Hope's cheeks slowly became warm as her heart started to thud against her chest at a fast pace. _'What's the matter with you?'_ She questioned herself as strange emotions begin to stir inside her. _'It's a simple question, answer it.'_ She told herself.

"Why..." She trailed off to take a deep breath and to try and calm herself down. "Why would you think it wasn't?" She finally asked after a few moments of silence.

She watched Vilkas's mouth twist into a full smile and saw his eyes fill with satisfaction with her reaction. She quickly crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows down at him, acting like she was confused and maybe offended by his question. But he knew it was just an act, he could hear her flustered heart and sense emotions fluttering around her insides.

He slowly turned his head back to her with a sly smile taking over his face. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him more, really meaning her expression this time. "You really want to act like you don't remember?" He questioned with his sly smile remaining.

"I...ha." She awkwardly laughed out. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said with her head quickly turning away from him.

"Oh yes you do." Vilkas replied while taking a few steps towards her with the same smile on his face. He watched her body become tense as he got closer and he couldn't help but feel satisfied by that. It meant that what he wanted to do worked and he couldn't help but admit that he liked seeing Hope flustered like this. It made...certain things stir around inside him.

"I don't." Hope finally replied with her cheeks becoming visibly red. "Why are you denying it?" Vilkas questioned as he came a little closer to her. Her crossed arms tightened as she tried to turn her head away more from him but her neck could only bend so far.

"Because..." She trailed off, trying to come up with a reason but non would come to her.

"Because?" Vilkas teasingly questioned with a crooked smile and a cocked eyebrow.

She stood there awkwardly for a moment before finally letting out a sigh and replying in a whisper. "Because it doesn't matter anymore."

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her with his smile disappearing. "Of course it does." He said.

"Why?" She asked as she finally looked at him. She didn't realize how close he was until now and it made her chest burn with a fire she couldn't explain.

His body was so close to hers, that they were nearly touching. When she looked up at him and met his eyes, she could feel his hot breath hit the top of her forehead. "Because I believe that part of our past really had an impact on us." He said in a low voice with his icy blue eyes burning into hers.

One would think because of the color of them, they would seem cold. But every time Hope looked into them, something was always set aflame inside of her. "Who would of thought that girl from so long ago was you this whole time." He said in a hot whisper that sent all kinds of chills through her body.

The air between them quickly became hot and tense, causing her to become flustered. She could feel sweat building up in the palms of her hands and her heart slamming against her chest. Her legs started to tremble as her lips suddenly became dry, begging her to find some way to moisten them.

Her eyes fell on his lips that for some reason, were already parted. Was he feeling the same things she was? Was he just as flustered as she was? If so then he was hiding it very well.

Whatever it was Hope was feeling. She had no idea what it was, or if she even liked it. It was something she never felt before, it was something that made her want to panic and faint. She was getting so hot she just might.

Vilkas watched her breathing become shaky and the skin on her cheeks and above her nose turn to a light red. It was obvious she was feeling something, he could sense it. The wolf inside him could feel it and it was telling him to take action. Hell, if things kept going the way they were he just might.

That was until she broke the heavy silence between them with a stupid comment. "And who would of thought that little boy would turn into a clumsy giant!" She laughed out loudly and awkwardly as she quickly walked around him.

Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up as he watched her walk away from him at a fast pace. He could hear her continue to laugh out as she continued to walk. With a sigh leaving him, he quickly follows after her through the trees. He knew if he let her get any further away from him, she would get lost.

"Are you going to tell me your real name or not?" He asked after catching up to her. "Why do you keep thinking that Hope isn't my real name?" She asked while keeping her fast pace. "Because it doesn't fit you." He said, making her come to a quick stop.

She turned her head to him with a lifted eyebrow. "What do you mean it doesn't fit me?" She questioned. "What's wrong with the name Hope?"

"Nothing's wrong with it...I guess." He cleared his throat. "It just...doesn't fit you." He said with a shrug. "It's at least not the name I thought you'd have when I first met you."

Hope stared at him for a moment with her eyebrows furrowed, obviously thinking about something. She then slowly moves them away from him and looks down at the ground, trying to decide whether or not to tell him. _'What's the harm if he knows? Someone aught to know...'_

With it decided, she slowly looks back at him and tells him. "Liah, my real name is Liah." Vilkas raised his eyebrows up at her, surprised that she told him so quickly. "Liah?" He asked with his eyebrows slowly lowering back down and a smile taking form. "What? Is something wrong with Liah?" She asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

"No, nothings wrong with it." He said in a chuckle. "I like that name better than the one you picked out." He said with a smile. Hope blinked at him for a moment as she felt warmth return to the sides of her face.

"If you don't mind me asking." He said with his arms crossing over his chest. "Why did you lie about your name? Do you not like it?"

"No, I like it." She answered with her head slowly turning away from him. "Then why change it?" He asked again.

"Because..." She trailed off with her eyes going down to the ground. "I guess I just wanted to be someone different." She said quietly and then muttering. "Liah is just a serving girl in Rorikstead."

"Well that doesn't make sense." Vilkas said loudly, making her quickly look back up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "You could of kept your name and been a different person." He said with a shrug.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him even more and then quickly looked away. "Shut up, you wouldn't understand."

Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up at her with a half smile forming on his face because actually, he would. He never changed his name but he understood what it felt like when it came to wanting to be a different person. "Don't tell anybody, okay?" Hope said, surprising Vilkas again.

"Why?" Vilkas asked. "Because it's no one's business!" She spat out while looking back at him. He lifted an eyebrow up at her and tilted his head. "If it's no one's business, then why did you tell me?" He asked.

"Because you wouldn't of let it go." She replied, making a small chuckle escape from him. She was right, he wouldn't of let it go. "So let's just keep it between us okay? It'll be something only we know." She said with a small smile. She kind of liked the idea of that and so did he. A little secret only they shared, it almost made them feel like children again. A feeling that was stolen from them at a young age.

"Alright fine." He said with a sigh, pretending like it was a bother. "It'll be our secret." He said with a nod and a half smile forcing its way onto his face.

They both stood there for a moment, staring at each other with stupid smiles on their faces. But after deciding that, that was enough weird silence between them. Vilkas let out another sigh as he began to walk, quickly passing her. "Let's go find a river now, you're a mess." He mumbled. "And you're not?!" Hope shouted, making a chuckle leave him.

After commenting on her appearance, Vilkas feared that it would remind her of what they just got done doing and put her back in her regretting state. But it didn't, whatever mood he stirred between them just moments ago seemed to be lasting. Making them both forget the nasty job they had just done moments ago.


	28. Chapter 28

It didn't take long for Vilkas and Hope to find a decent size river, Vilkas didn't expect it to because they were in the forests of the Rift after all. "You go a head and go get cleaned up, I'll build a fire so that when you're done you can dry off properly." He said while already gathering up dead branches on the ground.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she watched. Vilkas felt her stare and noticed her feet weren't moving. He picks up one more branch and then looks up at her with a questioning raised eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm not going to bathe with you this close to the river." Hope said with her arms crossing over her breasts. Vilkas kept his eyebrow raised at her as a half grin spread across his face. "Why? Don't you trust me?" He asked teasingly.

"It's not a matter of trust, it's just...it'd just be weird to bathe with you so close." She told him with her face turning away from him. Vilkas slightly tilted his head at her with his smile remaining. "You think I'll watch, don't you?" He asked.

"Ha!" She laughed out awkwardly as she turned her whole body away from him with her arms remaining crossed. "Can you blame me? Why else would you set up camp this close to where I'll bathe?" She muttered.

"Well sorry to break it to you, but you don't really have anything I want to see. Or at least haven't seen already." He said with a snicker which made Hope quickly become tense. "What? So you're saying you don't want to watch me bathe?" She questioned while turning back around to face him.

Vilkas tilted his head again with another cocked eyebrow. "Do you want me to watch you?" He asked with a smirk. Hope's eyes widened as her cheeks flared up. "No!" She shouted loudly. "You sure?" Vilkas asked again as he stood straight back up. "Because I could use the entertainment while I eat." He said with another smirk.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him as a frown spread across her face. He watched her cheeks flare up more but this time it was more out of anger than embarrassment. At least that's what he guessed because after his words left him, she started to unsheathe her sword.

"Okay, alright I get it." He spoke quickly, making her slide her sword back into it's sheathe. "I'll go set up the fire over there behind those bushes." He told her while turning his back to her and then making his way over to the said spot.

"If I catch your eyes peeking through the bushes!" Hope shouted.

"I'm not going to peek!" Vilkas shouted back. "Like I said, you don't have anything I want to see."

"Hmph." Hope exclaimed with a frown as she watched him disappear behind the tall bushes. Once she was sure he was far enough away from her, she turned around and approached the large river.

Before getting undressed, she stood at the edge of the water and looked into it. It was clear and moving at a slow pace, she saw a few fish swim by but they didn't stop. Which was a relief because she didn't really want to take a bath with fish swimming around her.

So after letting out a soft sigh, she puts down her bag and begins to undress. She started with her heavy boots by kicking them off and not caring where they landed. Then she reached behind her and started to unbuckle the thick uncomfortable straps that were attached to her iron chest-piece. After letting it fall to the ground she then starts to remove her chain-mail, which slides against scrapes and bruises she got from their fight earlier. She slowly lifts the heavy material over her head while letting out a few groans and sharp hisses when she moves an arm wrong or when the chain-mail bumps against a bruise. Once it's off, she lets it hit the ground just like the iron chest-piece and she couldn't feel more relieved to have it off of her.

After letting out relieved sigh, she starts to untie her leather pants and then slides them down, also letting out sharp hisses when the tight material slides against bruises and scrapes. She had no idea what kind of shape she was in until now. It must of been the adrenaline during the fight that kept her from noticing her injuries.

Finally after getting off all of her heavy armor, her body gives off a small shiver from the cool Skyrim air hitting her bare skin. The Rift seemed to be a bit warmer than the areas around Whiterun hold but just barely. It's air still had a bit of a chill to it.

While staring at the clear water, she reaches back behind her and starts to untie her top undergarment. She starts with the back tie and then finishes with the top tie that wrapped around her neck. Before letting it fall off of her, she holds it close to her chest and slightly turns her head around to see if Vilkas might be peeking. But he wasn't, she wasn't sure if she felt relieved or disappointed by that.

With a sigh leaving her, she lets go of the thin cloth covering her breasts and lets it fall to the ground. Then she quickly pulls her bottoms down and steps out of them, now she was completely nude and felt very vulnerable. Especially since Vilkas was only a yard away from her. She quickly crosses her arms over her exposing breasts and slowly walks into the river. The cool waters coming into contact with her bare skin causes goose bumps to rise on her body and a sharp gasp escape from her.

She rushed into the river the rest of the way so that her body would quickly get used to the cold water. She stopped once she reached the middle of it, it's waters just barely reaching the bottom of her breasts. So she keeps her body turned away from view, that way if Vilkas actually did peek all he would see was her bare back.

So with a content sigh leaving her, she begins to wash all of the dried blood off of her which ended up being more than she expected.

A sigh leaves Vilkas as he begins to create a small fire out of branches and dried leaves. He can't help but tense every time he hears Hope drop her armor on the ground. She was doing it one by one and it was creating a mental image inside Vilkas's head that made him become...uncomfortable in his clothing.

Once the loud thuds and clangs that came from her dropped armor stopped, he started to envision what she would look like without all of that heavy material on her. First he imagined she would be in nothing but her undergarments and then in his mind, he imagined her slowly slipping out of them. The moment her nude body-or at least what he thought her nude body would look like-came to his mind he heard water splash around and then a surprised gasp afterwords.

That small, sharp gasp made other things come to Vilkas's mind. Things he tried so hard to push away because if they were to over take him then...well, he just might take off his own cloths and go join her in the river.

What would happen if he did? He wondered if she would be furious at him and call him ugly names for thinking he could get anywhere with her, but maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she would only become embarrassed and turn away from him, to let him proceed because just maybe, she wanted him more than he wanted her. What would he do if that were true? Just how would he approach her?

He knew she had never been with a man before, the only man she's ever kissed was Brynjolf-if he even counted that as a kiss, which he didn't-so she would be completely new to...everything. He would have to be careful, he would have to do things slowly which meant approaching her slowly.

The first thing he would probably do would be to place his hands on her sides, on her curves. Then he would slowly bring them forward to her stomach and rub water on the smooth surface. He imagined she would become tense at first but then after a few seconds, relax against him and allow him to proceed.

After she would become comfortable, he would slowly slide his hands up her stomach until they reached the very bottom of her breasts. What would she do then? Would she hiss and quickly move away from him? Or would she tremble under his touch and whimper for more?

The image was so clear in his head that it made him sure it would happen. So sure in fact that he unconsciously stood up and began to make his way over to the river. But after taking the first step, he stopped and was brought back from his dirty thoughts.

What made his feet come to a quick stop and his mind to clear, was Hope. It was the way she looked in the water, but not in the perverted way. All he could see was her bare back after all. It was the way her face looked, the expression on it.

She was looking down at the water with her hands out in front of her just barely being above the rivers surface. The water around her had turned into a muddy color from the dirt and dried blood that had just washed off of her. She was watching it swirl around her but it wasn't the dirt she was watching, it was the blood. It was the lives she had taken that day and it was the faces that looked at her just before they fell to their deaths.

Vilkas's heart clenched and his chest tightened. Seeing Hope look down with such regret and despair in her eyes made him feel like a villain for thinking he could make certain advances towards her. She was in obvious pain, pain she covered up just a bit ago, pain Vilkas thought she could put behind her so she could move forward. But he was wrong, the way she was looking down at the blood around her made him think that she would never forget.

And one would think that wasn't a bad thing, but it was. If she were to keep it with her forever it would only build on top of other guilt's and regrets, which would weigh her heart down to the point she would feel like she was drowning. It was something he or maybe Kodlak would definitely have to talk to her about later.

He unthinkingly lets a sigh escape from him, which makes Hope's ears twitch. He quickly tenses when he sees her start to turn around and he tries to move back behind the bushes but he's just not fast enough. "I knew it!" She yelled with one hand covering her breasts and her other pointing a finger at him. "I wasn't looking!" He yelled back while quickly moving back behind the bushes.

"Yeah right!"

"I only needed to stretch my legs, I swear!"

An hour had passed since they reached the river and Hope was now sitting around the fire drying off while Vilkas got cleaned up. She was stuffing her armor into her bag while eating some dried meat. She didn't bother putting it back on, she just slipped on some casual cloths since they were only going back to Riften to collect their reward and then go back home.

"You almost done?" She called to Vilkas as she tied her bag closed. "I didn't rush you, don't rush me." He replied with splashing water being heard afterwords. Hope rolled her eyes as she stuffed the remaining dried meat into her mouth and then held up both of her hands over the fire.

A few more minutes pass by before Hope hears approaching footsteps. She looks up and sees a fully clothed, damp Vilkas walk through the bushes. He too had decided to just wear casual cloths instead of his heavy, dirty armor. He let out a content sigh as he sat across from her and held his hands up to the fire.

"I think this is the first time I've actually seen you completely clean." Hope remarked. Vilkas only rolled his eyes as he started to slip on his boots. "You definitely smell better, you usually smell like dog." She teased, even though it were true. Vilkas quickly cleared his throat with his eyes moving to her bag. "Can I barrow your brush?" He asked, changing the subject.

Hope reopened her bag and dug through it for a moment before pulling it out. She stood up and reached across to hand it to Vilkas. "Thanks, Liah." He said while pausing before saying her actual name. He saw her arm tense when he took her brush from her and couldn't help but smirk. "Problem?" He asked with his smirk remaining. "N-no." She stuttered while her hands starting to fiddle with the bottom of her shirt. "It's just been a while since anyone's said my actual name out loud." She muttered.

"So you don't mind if I say it then?" He asked with an eyebrow raising. "I guess not." She replied with her arms crossing. "Just don't say it too often, especially in front of the others."

"Right." Vilkas muttered with his eyes rolling. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him for a moment and then began to walk past him. "Where you going?" He asked with his head following her. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, it's a long walk to Riften." She told him while continuing to walk away. "Oh." Vilkas said softly as he began to run her brush through his wet and tangled hair.

Hope walked until she was no longer in Vilkas's view. She stumbled and nearly tripped several times over large roots sticking out of the ground and rocks that were just big enough to twist an ankle. Finally after walking through yards of thick brush, she found a couple of large bushes she could hide behind and go to the bathroom.

A relieved sigh leaved her as she rushed over to the bushes. Once she was behind them she quickly started to untie her pants and begin to squat down. But something stopped her, a noise in the distance made her snap her head up and her fingers stop untwisting the knots that kept her pants from falling off of her waist.

She stood still in her place with her hands remaining at her waist. She looks out in the distance in front of her, but it was hard to see anything. The forest was just too thick, so for all she knew that noise could of came from a bear.

She slowly swallowed hard while letting her arms fall to her sides. She shifted her eyes around her but she was still seeing nothing. Maybe what she heard was just a rabbit snapping a branch or a fox running by. She lets out a small sigh as she brings her hands back up and begins to untie the knots on her pants again. _**CRUNCH!**_

Another noise, possibly the same as the first one but she wasn't sure. The first time she heard it, it wasn't as loud so she can't know for sure if it was coming from the same place or not.

Hope furrows her eyebrows as she begins to take a couple steps forward. Her head is slightly tilted and her eyes are wondering around her surroundings. _**CRUNCH, MUNCH.**_ It gets louder as she continues to walk forward.

She can feel her heart start to race and a feeling of panic set in from the unknown of the situation. For all she knew she could be wondering into a bears den or worse, a sabers. She swallows hard again as she knows she's getting closer to the source of the noise.

In front of her just a few feet away, was another set of tall thick bushes that had loud scratching and crunching noises coming from behind them. Hope stopped just in front of them and took in a deep breath, preparing herself for what she might see. Then after a moment of holding that breath, she quickly steps through the bushes and gasps loudly at what she finds.

It was not a bear, nor a saber. No it was much worse. It was a carcass that belonged to a large elk with a couple of foxes eating off of its remains. But it wasn't the body that shocked her, it was its condition. The way it was cut up and the way its body was sliced open. Her mouth hung agape as she slowly moved her eyes across the body and examined the large slashes across it, they were so large that the elk's guts were just spilling out.

She slowly lifts a hand to her face to shield her nose from the awful smell while she kept staring at the carcass with wide eyes. She only knew one creature, one monster that could tear up something like this and to think about it made the scars on the back of her leg burn.

She bent back a bit and rubbed the sore tissue as she slowly backed away from the body. She stops just before backing into the bushes and takes one last, long look at the dead elk. She blinked hard a couple of times, just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her and when she was sure that what was in front of her was real. She quickly spun around and ran from the tore up carcass as fast as she could.

 _'I can't believe it.'_ Is what kept going through her mind as she ran through the thick forest to get back to where Vilkas was. She could see the smoke from their fire rising in the air from the distance and then soon she could see Vilkas's back come into view.

He was packing up his armor when Hope came running through. He jumped and then quickly looked up with wide eyes, he was surprised to see her already sitting down. He moved his eyes to her face and saw that the color in her skin had faded, then he saw sweat beads running down her forehead and noticed how hard she was breathing.

"What's wrong?" He asked with concern showing in his voice. "Nothing." Hope answered quickly. Too quickly because when she did Vilkas cocked an eyebrow up at her. He examined her for a moment and then shifted his eyes down to her legs when he noticed that she was rubbing the one that had an old injury on it. One he knew too well.

That's when he furrowed his eyebrows down and quickly looked back up at her. "Did something happen to your leg?" He asked. "No. Why would you ask me that?" Hope questioned rather defensively. Vilkas lifted his eyebrows up as he was taken aback by her response.

"Did something happen while you were going to the bathroom?" He asked more. "No, stop asking me stupid questions." Hope snapped as she started to rub the back of her leg faster. "Alright." Vilkas sighed as he quickly got up his to feet and then approached her. "Tell me." He said with his arms crossing.

"No." Hope replied with her eyebrows furrowing. Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up at her. "Why?" He asked. "Because nothing happened." She answered while quickly looking away from him.

She wasn't wanting to deal with being called crazy again, so she was going to keep what she saw to herself. She could only imagine the things Vilkas would say to her if she told him what she thought attacked her and that elk. Something she got made fun of back at Jorrvaskr.

Vilkas stared at her for a moment longer and then finally let out a defeated sigh. "Alright fine." He said as he turned around and continued to pack up his armor. Once he was done, he stood back up straight and turned around to face Hope again. She was looking away with her arms hugging her knees close to her chest. "You ready?" Vilkas asked, snapping her out of what ever thoughts were flowing through her mind. Hope quickly looked up at him and gave him a nod.

It took them a moment to get the fire out and to get their things gathered, but once they were sure there wasn't an ember left in the fire and their belongings were on their backs. They hit the road, making their way back to Riften.

The Afternoon rolled by while they walked down the road, the air between them was mostly filled with silence but occasionally Vilkas would be able to get some kind of small talk going.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, they reached Riften and walked right through the gates without the guard giving them a problem like the other day. "Maven will be at the tavern waiting for us." He tells her, breaking the silence. They both come to a quick stop in front of the doors to the Inn. "If you want, you can wait out here. It shouldn't take me long." He said with his head turning towards her.

"I'd rather wait out here to be honest." She said with a nervous smile. "Thought so." Vilkas replied with his own smile. He grabs the door knob but before pushing it open, he turns to Hope one more time and says. "Once I'm done in here with Maven, we'll leave Riften and take the carriage back to Whiterun. Hopefully this time the driver will be able to take us all the way. So if there's anything we're low on, go a head and pick up because it'll be a long drive home."

Hope gives him a nod in response and then watches him walk into the tavern with the door shutting behind him. She lets out a small sigh as she starts to make her way to the Marketplace that was behind the Inn, at least she guessed that's where it was because of all the noise.

To her liking she was right. The Marketplace was just behind the Inn and it had a good variety of stalls. She looked out at them all with wide eyes, the only Marketplace she'd ever been to was Whiteruns. So to see one this big really threw her off.

"Fresh fruit and vegetable!" One stall owner shouted. She looked over to them with a relieved smile and approached them. That was exactly what she was looking for and it was a relief to her that she didn't have to go through several people to find them.

"Hello there young lady, can I interest you in some fresh produce?" The stall owner asked with a smile. "I'll take a few apples and potatoes." She told him while handing him coin. He gave her nod and then turned around to prepare her order.

"You sure don't want something more interesting than produce?" A smooth voice from behind says right into her ear. She jumps with a gasp leaving her, then she quickly steps forward and turns around to find it was just Brynjolf.

She quickly wrinkled her nose up at him and then looked away. "What do you want?" She asked with venom in her voice. Brynjolf laughed in response while taking a step towards her. "What's the matter lass? I thought after last night we'd become friends." He said with a sly smile.

"Why would you think that?" She asked with her head moving back towards him and her eyebrows furrowing. Brynjolf's sly smile turned into a grin as he tapped his lips with his index finger. Hope watched him with a light blush appearing on the sides of her face. "One kiss doesn't make pick-pocketing okay." She muttered as she moved her eyes away from him.

He chuckled in response and then grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him. The movement surprised her and she tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he was faster than her and before she knew it her body was held against his with his arms wrapping around her. "Then how about two kisses?" He asked with a crooked grin.

Hope quickly scoffed at him and then pushed him off. "In your dreams." She muttered again as she dusted her cloths off. "It's always more than a kiss in my dreams lass." He said with a wink, causing her face to quickly flare up.

She then looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows as her arms crossed over one another. "What do you want Brynjolf?" She asked with her face remaining a red color. "I already told you, don't you want something more interesting than produce?" He asked with his sly smile remaining.

Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him in question. "Like this elixir here." He said while lifting up a tall, red bottle. Hope curiously looked at it and eyed it's fancy design. "Take one drink of this and you won't need food for days."

"Ha!" She laughed at him. "Does that line honestly work for you?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Sometimes, but then again I don't always use the same line." He replied with his smile remaining as he slowly lowered the tall bottle back down. "Thought so." She said with her eyes rolling.

Brynjolf can't help but chuckle at her. "Nothing gets past you does it lass?" He asked in another chuckle. Hope looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows again, she couldn't tell if he was being insulting or not.

"You know..." He starts to say with a hand rubbing his chin. Hope lifts an eyebrow up at him, waiting for him to finish that sentence. "I think I have a job that you'd be perfect for." He said with a grin. "A job?" She questioned with her eyebrows furrowing.

"That's right." He said with a nod. "Come this way." He said with a wave from his hand. Hope watched him turn and walk a few steps away from her before she followed after him. He came to a stop just a few feet away from a stall that had a Dark Elf working it. "You see that Elf working?" He asked.

"Yeah." Hope replied. "Okay, now do you see that Argonian over there?" He asked again with a finger pointing to another stall that was across the Marketplace. "Yeah?" She said with an eyebrow raising.

"I need you to break into his lock box and take a ring." He starts to explain, making Hope quickly look at him with wide eyes. "Then after you take his ring, I need you to slip it into that Dunmer's pocket."

Hope quickly scoffs and replies with. "Are you kidding?"

Brynjolf turned to her with a lifted eyebrow. "Do you see me laughing lass?"

"You want me to...steal from someone and then plant that stolen item on someone else?" She questioned in bewilderment.

"Sounds easy right?" He said with a sly smile.

"No!" She slightly shouted. "I'm a Companion not a thief! I follow the law not break it!"

"But breaking it is part of the fun." He said with a grin.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him in question. Brynjolf quickly takes her hand and pulls her away from the Marketplace with his grin remaining on his face. "And I can tell, you crave fun." He said.

"Trust me." She said while yanking her hand out of his. "I've had enough fun for one day." She muttered with her eyes moving to the ground as the lifeless bodies from before came to her mind. Brynjolf stares at her for a moment, recognizing the look in her eyes.

He slowly placed a hand a below her chin and brought it up so that she was looking him in the eyes. "Well trust me when I say this, my kind of fun is...less bloody." He said with a small smile. Hope looked at him shocked, it was almost as if he read her mind but she shouldn't be surprised. Brynjolf could read people like she could, so she should of known that it would be easy for him to read her emotions and thoughts.

"But it's dirtier." She said with her eyebrows furrowing. "That's true." He replied with a nod. "But a little dirt is always fun and if you like...I can show you just how fun." He said with a grin spreading across his face.

He watched her face flare up again and that sent waves of delight through his body. To make a young beautiful woman like her become flustered so fast always put him in a better mood. "So, what do you say lass? Want to have some fun?" He asked in a whisper.

Hope blinked at him a few times, she wasn't sure if he was still asking her to do the job or if he was asking her to do...something else.

She stared at him for a moment longer before slowly opening her mouth to reply. But loud charging feet followed after a yell cut her off. "Hey!"

It was Vilkas, he had just began to look for Hope and to find her in the arms of Brynjolf again just enraged him. "What do you think you're doing?" He shouted when he reached them. He quickly grabbed Hope's arm and pulled her away from him, making her stand right behind him so that he stood between her and Brynjolf.

"Well we were about to have some fun until you showed up." Brynjolf replied with a smirk. Vilkas sneered and growled at him as he unconsciously tightened his grip on Hope's arm. "O-ow!" Hope yelled before giving his arm a hard punch. Vilkas jumped and then quickly let go of her. "Sorry! I didn't mean to." He apologized while turning around to face her. "So he says, but does he mean it?" Brynjolf said with another smirk.

Vilkas quickly turned back around to him with another mean sneer on his face. "Shut it!" He yelled.

"Or what?" Brynjolf replied, earning another growl from Vilkas.

Hope watched them both stand there, glaring into each others eyes. Vilkas had a sneer on his face while Brynjolf had a grin on his. It seemed that neither of them scared each other but the tension they were creating was frightening the citizens around them.

"Alright break it up." A nearby guard shouted as he approached them. Brynjolf and Vilkas both turned their heads and looked at him with lifted eyebrows. "You two hounds are disrupting the peace." The guard said.

"Hounds?" Vilkas questioned. "That's right, because from where I was standing you both looked like a couple of male mutts fighting over a bitch in heat."

Hope's jaw dropped open as Vilkas quickly glared at him. "You got a problem with what I said?" The guard challenged.

A growl leaves him as he starts to take a step towards the guard but Brynjolf quickly stopped him with his arm extending out in front of him. "No need to get in trouble with the law over something like that, lad." He said with his own eyes burning into the guard.

It surprised Hope to see Brynjolf stop Vilkas like that, it was almost like he cared but she knew better than to think that. Vilkas snapped his head to Brynjolf and gave him the same mean glare he gave the guard. Hope watched the three of them stand there like that for a while before someone awkwardly clearing their throat from behind interrupted the intense silence.

Everyone including the guard turned and looked. It was the produce sales man and he was holding out a tied bag with an uncomfortable look on his face. "You're um." He cleared his throat again as he handed the bag to Hope. "You're order is done." He said quickly before turning away and leaving the uncomfortable scene.

An aggravated sigh leaves Vilkas as he quickly turns and storms off. "Come on Hope, we're leaving." He said with anger showing in his voice. "That's right, walk away." The guard said, making sure it was loud enough for Vilkas to hear. Vilkas stopped walking for a moment, trying to decide if he should turn around and give the guard a good beating.

But Hope placing a hand on his arm calmed his nerves and made him change his mind. "Come on, there's no need to stay in this gods forsaken city any longer." She whispered. To hear her say that made relief spread through him. Because just a moment ago, when he saw her in Brynjolf's arms it almost looked like she would want to stay here...with him.

Vilkas slowly turned his face to her, showing her the relief in his eyes and then gave her a nod. Then without wasting any more time, they both leave the city as quickly as they can.

When they both left the city, they immediately walked to the stables and were relieved to see a carriage sitting there. Vilkas approached the driver, making the driver turn his head towards him. "You folks looking for a ride?" He asked. "Can you take us to Whiterun?" Vilkas asked. "Sure can, that'll be forty gold." The driver said while holding his hand out, waiting for coin to be placed in it.

Vilkas rolled his eyes as he started to dig into his bag for his coin purse, once he pulled it out he opened it up and started to count the coin. Hope watched him pull out the exact amount of the coin the driver had asked for and then hand it to him. "Go a head and climb on." The driver said while stuffing the coin in his pocket. Vilkas turned to Hope and gave her a nod, giving her the go head to climb into the carriage.

They both walked around and Hope was the first to climb on and then Vilkas followed after. They both sat down across from each other and then at the same time, let out a relieved sigh.

They both looked at each other with lifted eyebrows but soon after meeting Vilkas's eyes, Hope moved hers away from him. Vilkas watched her for a moment as the carriage started to pull away and then move down the road. He could see the regret and despair he saw in her eyes earlier return.

He cleared his throat to break the silence and then asked. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hope replied with her eyes moving back to him.

"I know you're still bothered by what we did at the bandit's strong hold earlier." He said.

"And why wouldn't I be?" She questioned with her eyebrows furrowing.

Vilkas stared at her for a moment and then cleared his throat. "I uh." He paused for a second. "I get it."

"Do you? Because for some reason you can't seem to wrap your head around it." She snapped, making Vilkas furrow his eyebrows down.

"We killed people Vilkas." Her voice starts to break. " _I_ killed people, Vilkas."

"They weren't people, Liah."

"They sure as hell looked like people when I stabbed a blade through their gut and shot an arrow in their eye."

A heavy sigh leaves Vilkas as he leans forward with a hand rubbing his forehead. He wanted to try and make her feel better, he wanted to say something that would make the guilt go away, but nothing he would say could. Only time would be able to help her with that or maybe if they were lucky, Kodlak could.

"Just get some rest." He said with his upper body leaning back against the carriage. "It's been a long day."

Hope stared at him for a moment, reading what she could off of his face. Then she slowly lays down on the carriages bench and rolls over so that her back is facing him. She places her bag under her head to use as a pillow and then relaxes against it. Or at least tried to, a hard bench on a bumpy carriage wasn't exactly comfortable.

She slowly shuts her eyes and tries to rest like Vilkas suggested, but she couldn't. She couldn't because of the thoughts that came to her mind, because of the images that flashed behind her eyes. The images of the faces that belonged to the people she killed and the image of the torn up carcass she found in the middle of the woods. A lot of things have happened that day and she can't help but wonder what else was going to happen and if she was going to be able to get through it.


	29. Chapter 29

Sorry for the late update everyone! This week has been crazy busy and I was on my feet so much yesterday that I never had time to stop and finish this chapter! So I hope you didn't grow too impatient ^^" Sorry again!

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The ride back to Jorrvaskr was a long one. It didn't take more than two days to reach Whiterun, but with all of the silence between them during the ride it felt like it should of. Hope would often stare off out into the distance with a look in her eyes that told Vilkas she had heavy thoughts going through her mind. He would try and break the silence with small talk but it would only last a few minutes and then they would just go back to sitting quietly, both looking away in opposite directions.

"Alright, here we are folks." The driver said back to them as the carriage came to a slow stop next to Whiterun's stables. "Finally." Vilkas sighed as he climbed down the carriage. He threw his bag over his shoulder and then turned to watch Hope climb down the carriage.

Once her feet touched the ground, she immediately raised her arms in the air and gave off a loud groan as she stretched out her tightened muscles. "I thought we'd never get back." She said in a relieved sigh as she rubs her lower back. "You and me both." He muttered under his breath while turning his head to look back at Dragonsreach that towered high in the sky.

Hope turned to look at him for a moment but then went a head and started to walk, passing him with her shoulder slightly brushing up against his. Vilkas looked back a head and watched her walk down the road that led to the city.

"Hey." He quickly called to her, grabbing her attention. She stopped walking and turned around to look at him with a lifted eyebrow. "Before I forget." He said while digging around in his bag. Hope watched him with her eyebrow remaining curiously raised. She then watched him pull out the large bag of coin that Maven gave him and reach inside to pull out a handful of gold. "You're cut." He told her with a small smile on his face.

"Oh." Hope replies as she untied her coin purse from her belt. She then opens it and holds it out to Vilkas so that he can just drop the coin in. Vilkas did so the moment she held out her bag. "Thanks." Was all she said while tying her coin purse back on her belt and then turning around to continue to walk to the city.

Vilkas watched her with his eyebrows knitting together in concern. Before she turned away from him, he spotted the look of heaviness still present in her eyes. He figured she was still feeling down, on the rest of the way back that morning she was still quiet and didn't have a lot to say.

With a heavy sigh leaving him Vilkas starts to follow after Hope, but not too quickly. He just let her be and allowed her to walk a head of him.

When they both reach Jorrvaskr, they're immediately greeted by Ria. "You're back!" She happily exclaimed while approaching Hope. "How did it go? Did you complete your job? Was it hard?" She asked several questions quickly, causing Hope to only stare at her wide-eyed for a few minutes afterwards.

Then after being sure that Ria was finished, she cleared her throat and crossed her arms. "We did finish the job." Was all she said in reply. Ria's happy expression slowly formed into a confused one, she could hear something being hidden in the back of Hope's throat and noticed the heaviness in her eyes that Vilkas had noticed before.

"Good to hear." Aela said while approaching them. "Did you have any complications?" She asked with her eyes moving to Vilkas, who was now standing next to Hope. "No, it went fine." Vilkas answered with his arms crossing over his chest. Aela lifted an eyebrow up at him, sensing the tension in his muscles. She always could tell when he was lying.

She then slightly shifted her eyes in Hope's direction and noticed how she had her head turned away from them with her eyes staring off into the distance. "Best you go get some rest." Aela said to Hope, making her look back at her. "I think Skjor has something else for you later, but he'll tell you about it after you rest and get cleaned up." She said with a smile.

Hope stared at her for a moment and then shifted her eyes to Vilkas, who gave her a nod when she did. Then after looking at Ria for a moment, she walks off heading back to Jorrvaskr. She was wanting to go inside anyways, the five days they were gone she had missed the wooden smell that the old building carried.

Aela and Vilkas both watched Hope walk back to Jorrvaskr with Ria trailing behind her. Once she entered the building with the door shutting behind her and Ria, Aela turned to Vilkas and immediately asked. "Did something happen?"

"No." Vilkas replied with his eyebrows furrowing. "Liar." Said Aela with her arms crossing over each other.

Vilkas scoffed at her and looked away. "Why do you think I'm lying?" He questioned with a sneer.

"Because you're a bad lier, that's why." Aela replied with a lifted eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

A small sigh leaves Vilkas as he pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "It's nothing big. Just the usual." He muttered. "And what would that be?" Aela questioned with her arms remaining crossed.

"You know how new-bloods get when they fight and kill for the first time." He said while lowering his hand down from his face and turning back to look at Aela. "Ah, I see." She said with her eyes trailing off to the side.

"So she didn't handle it well then?" She asked while turning her head back towards the door to Jorrvaskr. "Not at first." Vilkas replied. Aela turned her head back to him with a lifted eyebrow, questioning his response.

"At first she was so nervous, I thought she was going to be sick." He told her while reaching back and rubbing his neck. "But when it came down to jumping into action, she didn't hesitate. We both got cornered a couple of times and every time, she didn't hold back." He explained.

"I see." Aela said with a small, proud smile. "But..." Vilkas sighed, making her smile quickly disappear. "There were a few times where Hope froze, but I don't think it was out of fear. I think it was because of the killing."

"Well, that's something she's going to have to get used to." Aela said in a harsher tone of a voice than she meant. "A true and honorable warrior must do what is necessary. Especially if it's protecting the innocent and bringing the law."

"You don't have to tell me that." Vilkas said with a frown. "And Hope understands that, she does. She just doesn't like the thought of taking a person's life, even if that someone doesn't deserve to be called a person." He sighed.

"Hmm..." Aela hummed while she thought deeply. Vilkas watched her with slightly furrowed eyebrows, wondering what was going through her mind. "Maybe she isn't ready for the final test after all." Aela murmured with her eyes trailing down towards the ground.

"Why? Because she has a conscious?" Vilkas questioned. Aela moved her eyes back up at him with a lifted eyebrow. "Everyone feels the way she does after their first real job, give her a break." He said, with the last part coming out as a murmur while he crossed his arms and moved his eyes away.

Aela stared at him with her eyebrow remaining lifted for a moment, then a small smirk slowly spread across her face. "Sticking up for the whelp are we?" She teased.

Vilkas snapped his head back towards her with a mean sneer on his face. "What are you talking about?" He questioned. "I'm only speaking the truth, I'd say the same thing for Ria, even Torvrar!"

A loud laugh escaped Aela when Vilkas suddenly became defensive. Which only earned her another frown and mean glare. "Alright, alright." She said in a chuckle. "I'll go a head and tell Skjor to continue on with the plan then." She said with an amused smile remaining.

"Tomorrow she and Farkas will be sent off for the real test and then we shall see if she's worthy of the name Companion."

Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at Aela, making her raise one at him in question. "Something the matter?" She asked. Vilkas quickly shifts his eyes away from her and asks in a mummer. "She's going with Farkas?"

"Yes, he's going to watch her and see if she's ready." Aela answered with curiosity filling her eyes. "...Why do you ask?"

"He just doesn't seem to be the best one to send." He said with his eyes remaining to the side. Aela lifts another eyebrow with a smirk spreading across her face. "Oh? Then who is? You?" She questioned.

"Or Skjor." He said with a shrug. "Are you joking? Skjor would fail her if she so much as tripped over a stone."

"No, Farkas is the right one to send." She said with a nod.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to look away. Then with a small, annoyed growl leaving him, he looks back a head and walks past Aela. "Fine." He mumbled quietly. Aela couldn't help but chuckle as she turned and watched walk towards Jorrvaskr.

"So..." Ria trailed off her sentence as she followed Hope down the stairs inside Jorrvaskr. "How did the job go?" She asked.

"Fine." Hope murmured as she walked into the sleeping quarters. Ria lifted an eyebrow as she continued to follow. She stopped in the doorway of the room and watched Hope stop in front of the bed she usually slept in and then bend down near it.

She saw her slide out a small bag and then start to dig through it. Ria slightly tilted her head as she continued to watch.

Out of that bag, Hope pulled out a good sized coin purse. She opened it and dumped what coin was in the small bag she was carrying with her earlier. "Wow, looks like you've saved up a good amount of coin!" Ria commented.

"I'm saving it up." Hope replied.

"For armor?" Ria asked.

Hope nodded in response as she placed the large coin purse back in her bag and then pushed it back under the bed. "Do you have an idea of what type of armor you want?" Ria asked.

"Yeah." Hope said in a sigh as she stood back up. Ria watched her continue to look down at the bed while she lifted an arm up and rubbed the back of her neck. "You okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Hope answered plainly. She really wasn't wanting to get into it right now, she just wanted to rest and forget all of the things that happened in the last few days.

"There you are whelp." Said Skjor as he entered the sleeping quarters. Hope sighed and turned to face him. She had a feeling that rest she longed for wasn't going to happen any time soon. "I need to speak to you."

"Privately." He said with his eyes shifting to Ria.

Ria quickly stood up straight and exited the room. Once she was out, Skjor took a few steps towards Hope and said in his usual grumpy tone of voice. "Aela tells me you're job with Vilkas went smoothly." The sentence he spoke would make one think that he was proud, but his usual voice always made Hope confused on how he was actually feeling.

"That small job I gave you and Vilkas was a...sort of test." He said with his arms crossing.

 _'Small he says.'_ Hope thinks to herself as she desperately wants to roll her eyes, but she holds that gesture back. "Test?" She questions.

"That's right, I guess you can call it a test for the actual test" He said with a shrug.

"What test then?" Hope asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"A test to see for you're actually ready to be called a Companion." He said with a half-grin, making Hope raise an eyebrow.

That was probably the first time she's seen his face change expression. "You leave first thing tomorrow." He said with a nod.

Hope's eyebrows furrowed more, showing bewilderment on her face. "Tomorrow? But I just got back!" She protested, quickly making Skjor frown in response.

"A true warrior never rests, no matter their condition." He said with a scowl on his face that was full of disapproval.

A sigh mixed with exhaustion and aggravation leaves Hope as she crosses her arms and looks away from him. "Farkas will be your shield-brother on this." He said, making her look back at him with a lifted eyebrow.

"Shield-brother?" She questioned. "That's right, a shield-brother or shield-sister is someone who fights along side you and protects you. Much like Vilkas did on the job you just returned from, he was your shield-brother." He explained.

Hope blinked at him a couple of times, she wondered why Vilkas didn't say anything about that when they were traveling. "Anyways." Skjor sighs, bringing her back from her thoughts. "Like I said, you and Farkas both leave first thing tomorrow morning. Don't disappoint whelp, or get him killed." He said with a frown as he turned around and began to leave the room but before walking through the doorway, he stops and slightly turns his head to her. "Talk to him for details." Is all he said and then just left.

Hope watched him walk away with her eyebrows knit-together. Another job so soon? More than that, a test!? How was she going to get through this one if she was barely able to get through the last one. One would think that she would be giddy and excited about this job being the final step before finally becoming a Companion, but she wasn't.

She wanted to feel excited, she wanted to ready her armor, her weapon, and her supplies. But she didn't. She felt nervous, she felt afraid. Afraid of not being ready and only getting pushed back because she didn't have the stomach to do what must be done.

With a heavy sigh leaving her, she takes a couple steps back and then falls onto her bed with her legs hanging off the side. She lays on the stiff mattress, staring up at the wooden ceiling with her legs dangling from the edge of the bed. It was uncertainty that she was feeling and she didn't like it.

"What's wrong girl? Nervous about tomorrow?" Kodlak's voice made a surprised gasp leave her as she quickly sat up. He can't help but chuckle as he watched her nearly fall off the bed. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He said as he entered the room.

Hope watched him walk to the bed that sat across from her and then take a seat on its edge. "Skjor and Aela told me a couple of days ago that they think you're ready for a real test to determine if your Companion material." He said with a smile. "And just now, I heard Skjor from down the hallway telling you that you are ready, and I can't help but agree." He told her with his smile remaining.

He watched her stare at him for a moment, with what looked like several thoughts going through her mind. But instead of speaking her mind, she just moved her eyes away from him. "So." He spoke, breaking the small silence that formed between them. "Why is it that you look less thrilled than you aught to be?" He asked with a faint smile.

Hope kept her eyes to the side for a moment longer, still pondering her thoughts, and then slowly moved them back to Kodlak. "What did it feel like to you when you had to kill some one for the first time?" She asked. It was a question she never dreamed of ever having to ask.

Kodlak's eyes softened as he stared into hers, it was a question he suspected to be brought up and one he wished others would ask more. "I felt a heaviness that weighed down my heart and broke my soul." He said softly.

He watched Hope's eyebrows slowly knit-together as her eyes began to water. He described what she had been feeling for the past couple of days, a feeling she thought she'd never be able to explain, a feeling she thought she was the only one to know.

He watched her blink back her tears, take in a deep shaky breath though her nose, and then ask with a trembling lip. "Does it ever go away?"

"No." He answered truthfully. Which Hope wanted him to do, but she still didn't like the feeling of shock it sent through her chest. "Vilkas-" She has to stop to draw in another shaky breath before speaking more. "Vilkas talks like I should be able to get over it eventually but...I don't think I will."

"He's a good lad for trying to make you feel better and even though he's plenty smart, well...making people feel better is just something that's not his strong suit." He said with a soft smile.

"Yeah." Hope chuckled softly as she sniffled a little. She slowly moved her eyes back down to the floor with the feeling of heaviness returning to her heart.

"He's wrong though. It's something you will never be able to get over, something you'll never be able to forget." He said, making her slowly look back up at him.

"Everyone holds the lives they've taken to their hearts, even if they don't show it."

"How can they act like it didn't happen?" She asked.

"Because they learned from it." He answered, earning him a confused look from her.

"They learned that some things must be done for the greater good of others. Think on it, what would of happened if you had spared the people you killed?"

Hope stared at him for a moment and then slowly shifted her eyes down before answering him. "A lot of other people would of gotten hurt and suffered..."

"It's a price we pay to be Companions, to be honorable warriors that protect the people of Skyrim. Even if it is a heavy price." He told her.

"It doesn't get easier and to feel pain from plunging your blade into another just means you are human. In fact, any person who can take another life without feeling a thing is the very kind of person we try to protect others from."

He watched her slowly nod in response as her eyes went back down to the floor.

"I can't tell you to get over it." He said. "I can't make you forget it or put it behind you. But I do want you to build on it and to learn from it; Keep that feeling with you but not if it only sends you down into a dark hole of despair, only keep it with you so that you remain sane, so that you remain human and understand that you should never take a life light heartily."

"Because the moment you start to become numb to the look of life draining from their eyes, is the moment you've truly become lost."

Hope's jaw tightened as did her grip on the bed's edge. His words were deep and they struck through her heart as if they themselves were sharp arrows. But they were words she needed to hear, words she needed to feel. _'The moment you start to become numb to the look of life draining from their eyes, is the moment you've truly become lost.'_ She was going to hold onto that, let those words help guide her and help her decide who's lives she would have to take and whose lives she should spare.

"You going to be okay lass?" Kodlak asked with worry showing in his eyes. Hope looked back up at him, her eyes a little lighter than before. "Yeah, I think so." She said with a nod and faint smile. Kodlak returned the smile. "Good then." He said while standing up from the bed. He approached Hope and gave her a shoulder a squeeze. "Get some rest lass, you'll need it for tomorrow." He told her before turning away and walking out of the room.

She watched him leave and then once he was gone, she grabbed her bag off of the floor and dug through it for her blank book she kept. He told her to rest but she felt like that was the last thing she could do at the moment. So, she opened her book to the page that had a sloppy doodle of armor on it and grabbed an inkwell and pen to begin anew on that page.

Now she had some kind of idea what kind of armor she wanted. A kind of armor that allowed her plenty of room to move and one that was light enough to allow her to move quietly, but thick enough to save her from a swinging blade or shot arrow. It was something she was sure of and the certainty of that was what she needed.


	30. Chapter 30

The next day came slow, Hope felt like she didn't get any sleep at all due to her nerves. She sighs heavily as she finishes strapping her iron-chest piece on, she's done it so much now that she's able to do it herself. A small victory, even though she hopes to be rid of the heavy armor very soon.

After getting it strapped on, she grabs an empty bag and begins to pack it with things she might need. She still had no idea where they were going or what they would be doing, she has yet to ask Farkas about it.

She wanted to yesterday, but she couldn't work up the nerve to do it. Ever since the very first job she's done for the Companions, Farkas had been acting very...strange around her... awkward. She remembered the things he had said when she got back, she remembered how they made butterflies flutter around her stomach, but they also sent confusion through her because of how random and out of no where they were.

And then after he said all of those things, he froze and then just walked away. She wanted to ask him what it was about but again, never found the nerve to do it. So today, Hope travels with him and just maybe will be able to talk to him a little. At least she hoped so because if not then well...it'll just be a very uncomfortable situation and she really didn't need that with this job being a final test and everything...

Approaching footsteps coming from down the hall makes Hope's ears twitch, but she pays no attention to them. She focuses on packing her bag and getting her weapons ready, she also needed to get more arrows from Aela. She forgot that she used them all in the bandits fortress back in Riften.

The approaching footsteps slow down as they come closer to the sleeping quarters, but Hope doesn't notice. She's too busy with over thinking and getting ready, she doesn't even know that those footsteps belong to Vilkas.

He had just rolled out of bed and felt he too barley got any sleep. He was probably more nervous for Hope than she was for herself. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't stop overthinking about the whole thing. It was the fact that she would be doing it with out him and possibly...maybe...it was the fact that Farkas was going with her.

It shouldn't of bothered him though, Farkas was an ice-brain. He could barely keep up with jokes and was always the last one to understand something. But for some reason, women always fell in love with him. Vilkas guessed it was because of his good nature and smooth talking. He may have been bad at jokes, but he was one hell of a flirt. He always seemed to enjoy teasing women and sending them over the edge, but for some reason when he would come across one he actually liked, he always fell over his own words and then would just freeze.

That's how Vilkas knew his brother had small feelings for Hope. The day he quite talking to her was the day he realized it. But only because Farkas would steal small glances at her when no one was looking and every time she would train or even laugh, Vilkas would catch him watching.

It made his insides boil and something catch aflame inside him. He wasn't sure why though, it wasn't jealousy. Why would he ever be jealous of his brother? There was no reason to be and if Hope just so happens to fall in love with Farkas, then so be it. At least that's what he told himself every time he caught his brother in what looked like a dreamy state. He always tried to convince himself that it wasn't a big deal and there was no harm in the thought of them being a couple. But something inside him never bought any of it, even though it was his own thoughts in his own head.

Vilkas comes to a slow stop in front of the sleeping quarters doorway and peeks in. Hope's back is turned to him, but he can see that she was packing and getting ready. He wanted to wish her luck, he wanted to see how she was feeling about getting another job so soon after the one they came back from yesterday. But he doesn't, he only stands there watching her for a moment and then turns away to proceed to the stairs that lead to the upper floor of Jorrvaskr.

As he approaches the top step, he looks up at the dining table to see who was all awake and eating breakfast. Only a few were up and among them, was Farkas. That didn't surprise him, he had a job to do today so he needed to be up early and be the first one to be ready. Vilkas continues to stare at his brother for a moment, watching him take a hesitant bite out of a piece of bread. It looked like he had something on his mind.

Vilkas unconsciously scowls to himself as he approaches the table and walks around it to the empty seat that sat next to his brother. He wasn't quiet when he sat down, he grabbed at his chair rough like and made sure it scraped against the stone floor loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Farkas turned his head and watched his brother take a seat and then scoot the chair up-again, loudly-with a lifted eyebrow. After Vilkas settled down in his seat he slowly leaned back in his chair, with his arms crossing over his chest. "So." He said while clearing his throat. "So?" Farkas questioned with another cocked eyebrow.

"They picked you to watch over Hope today while she proves herself..." Vilkas said with his eyes keeping forward. Farkas shifted uncomfortably around in his seat and then replied after clearing his throat. "That's right."

"Hmph." Vilkas exclaimed with a scowl. Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down at his brother and asked. "Problem?"

"No, no problem." He replied. "I just didn't think you would be best suited for this kind of thing, is all."

Farkas quickly scoffed at him in response while dropping his fork down on his half-eatin plate. "Whose best suited then? You?" He questioned with his eyebrows remaining furrowed.

"Or Skjor." Vilkas said with a shrug.

Farkas continues to stare at his brother with furrowed eyebrows, watching him keep his face calm and eyes forward. That's when he lets out a small sigh and relaxes back in his seat. "You know." He said before picking up his mug and taking a drink of water. Then before speaking more, he gulps down the cool liquid and slowly places his cup back down onto the table. "Jealousy is a turn off to women." He said in the most casual voice he could muster.

Both of Vilkas's eyebrows shoot down as he snaps his head towards his brother. "What are you talking about? I have nothing to be jealous of!" He claimed, but Farkas wasn't buying it. In fact, everybody in the room that was ease-dropping wasn't buying it. "Lying will also get you in trouble." Farkas said with a smug grin.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down more (if that was even possible) and opened his mouth to argue, but a familiar voice cut him off.

"Hey." It was Hope. She had come up the stairs and approached them both with out either of them knowing. Her presence made them both stand up so fast that their chairs tumbled over, creating a loud enough noise to echo through out the main hall of Jorrvaskr.

Hope's eyebrows shot up as she watched them both scramble around to pick up their chairs and then act like nothing had happened. After clearing his throat, Farkas slowly approaches her and then crosses his arms over his chest. "You ready to go?" He asked in an awkward tone of voice.

Now Hope was raising an eyebrow up at him. Questioning the weird way him and Vilkas both were acting. She quickly shifted her eyes to Vilkas, who had his eyes on her. Their eyes meet for a moment but Vilkas breaks the contact by turning his head and looking in the opposite direction. "Um..." She spoke, her eyes going back to Farkas.

"Not yet." She told him. "I need to give Eorlund something, meet me outside?" She asked with her eyebrows knitting together. Farkas gave her a faint smile and then nodded in response. she returned the smile and then turned away to head for the doors that led outside.

When she stepped outside she saw that Skjor and Aela both were sitting at one of the tables, enjoying a fresh breakfast together. They payed no attention to her, they just kept their minds on their food and possibly...each other.

Hope wondered if there was anything between them, but she's always been too afraid to ask for fear that she'd find Aela's fist in her face instead of an answer. She eyes them both for a quick second and then quickly walks by them to make her way to the forge.

She walks up the steep steps at a fast pace and when she reaches the top, she finds Eorlund sharpening a blade. She watches him for a moment, pondering whether she bothers him or not and after doing that for a good minute. She takes a hesitant step forward and then approaches him slowly.

Eorlund can hear approaching footsteps and stops what he's doing to look up and see who it is. He lifts both eyebrows up when he sees that it was Hope. "What are you doing here lass? Don't you have a job to do today?" He questioned with a lifted eyebrow.

Hope quickly nodded and replied. "I do, but I want to ask you something first."

Eorlund lifted another eyebrow up at her as he got up from his seat. "Well go on then." He said. Hope nodded again and then reached into a small pouch she decided to attach to her belt that day. He watched her pull out a folded piece of a paper and then hold it out to him. "What's this?" He asked while taking it out of her hand.

That question was soon answered after he opened up the piece of paper and saw that it was a drawing (a poor one at that) of armor. "Armor?" He questioned with his eyes moving back to her. She nodded in response. "I was hoping you could make that for me." She said.

"Getting tired of the armor you began with?" He asked with a half-smile. Hope nodded in response again with her own smile. "Well, let's see then." He said as he brought his attention back to the drawing. Even though it wasn't very good, it still gave him a good guess of what she wanted. Something light and flexible but also something that could protect her from a swinging blade. "Hmm..." He hums as he continues to examine the drawing.

"Alright, I think I can do this." He said, moving his eyes back to Hope. A pleased smile spread across her face. "How soon do you think you can get it done?" She asked. "It'll take some time, these things aren't an over night kind of thing." He said while turning his back to her and looking back down at the drawing. "I'll need to get certain supplies for this armor, it looks like it's going to need quite a bit of leather...and maybe iron...or perhaps steal..." He started to think out loud as he walked over to his forge and started going through what he had.

"How much is it going to cost?" She asked while taking a couple of steps towards him. "Don't worry about that right now, I'll let you know when it's finished." He said with a wave of his hand. "Now go, I imagine your shield-brother is growing impatient."

Hope gave him a quick nod and then turned around to hurry down the stairs. When she circled the building she saw Farkas was sitting at one of the tables waiting for her. When he heard approaching footsteps, he looked up and then stood up when he saw it was Hope. "All done with your business?" He asked. Hope nodded in response. "Alright then, let's get going. I'll explain what we'll be doing on the road." He told her as he turned and started to walk away. A sigh leaves Hope and then she quickly hurries off to catch up to him.

They walked through Whiterun in silence and it stayed that way until they reached the stables outside of the city. "Okay." Farkas said with a sigh as he turned down the road that went right from the stables. Hope walked a few inches behind him and looked at him, impatiently waiting for him to explain what it is they'll be doing.

"Our job takes place in Dustman's Cairn, it's an old Nordic Ruin that lies just North West of here." He began to explain. "What will we be doing there?" She asked. "Retrieving a relic." He answered. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at the short answer. Farkas could sense her eyes on him, wanting more of an explanation then that. So he gives her one. "About a week ago, a man from the college came to Jorrvaskr with information on something we've been looking for a long time. A piece of Wuuthrad."

"Wuuthrad? What's that?" She questioned. "It's a piece of Ysgrammor's battle axe. He was the first Harbinger and the one that killed all of the elves. Well, not all of them because some of them are still obviously here." He explained.

"We've gathered several pieces of the legendary weapon, but we still need a few more before we can re-build the weapon."

"So...this job is pretty important then..." She guessed, with her eyes slowly trailing down to her moving feet.

Farkas could sense her nerves surfacing, so he stopped and turned around to face her. She stops just as he does and then looks up at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Don't be nervous." He said with a small, comforting smile. "I'm confident that you'll do fine."

"I wish I could say your confidence gives me confidence." She mumbled as she looked back down and started to draw with the tip of her boot in the dirt that often decorated the stony road. Farkas watched her for a moment and then hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder to bring her attention back up to him.

"You did fine on the job you did with Vilkas and that involved killing bandits right?"

"Yeah." Hope quickly replied as she moved her eyes away from him once again with a regretful expression taking form on her face.

Farkas's eyebrows furrowed in confusion but the moment he looked at her eyes, he understood. He could see the heaviness appear in them. "I understand." He said out loud with out thinking.

Hope looked back up at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I..I mean I understand the feeling going through you right now." He said with a stutter. Now Hope was tilting her head at him, still confused on what he was going on about. She never said how she was feeling out loud.

A sigh leaves Farkas as he brings a hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. He stood there like that for a moment, gathering himself and his words together. After taking in a deep breath and then letting it out, Farkas lowers his hand from his face and tells her. "Your eyes are showing heaviness and I know why."

Hope's confused expression fades as she blinks at him a couple of times. "I know that yesterday was your first time ever...doing anything like that and what you're feeling right now, I understand it because I've been there too." He said, with his eyes staring into hers.

Her eyes softened as they continued to stare into each others eyes. After a moment of silence between them, Hope blinked a couple more times as she slowly looked away from him. "Do you think..." She breathed out. "Do you think we'll have to kill people on this job too?"

"No." He answered, keeping his eyes on her. "At least, I don't think so." He repeated, a little less confident than when he first answered her. But it was okay, it was enough to give her some relief and calm some of her nerves down. At least for now it was, because they wouldn't truly know until they got there.

"Okay." Hope breathed out while giving him a small nod. "You ready to keep going?" Farkas asked in a calm and steady tone of voice. She slowly looked up at him and gave him a nod with a soft smile spreading across her face. It was the sort of smile that caused Farkas's body to nearly get stuck, but he fought it off by quickly turning around and continuing down the road without saying another word.

They walked the rest of the way to the ruins in an uncomfortable silence Hope kept her distance as they walked because every time she got too close, Farkas would always react in a weird way.

"Here it is." Farkas said, finally breaking the heavy silence between them. They both walked up a steep hill and on the top of it was an old Nordic ruin that looked like it went deep into the ground. Hope's eyes widened as she approached the strange structure. She climbed up its sloped side and then once she reached the top of it, she looked down into it.

It was deep and had a crumbling, stone stair case leading down into its core. She followed the stairs with her eyes and then examined the bottom of it. The floor was nothing but the ground, she wasn't sure what she expected it to be in the first place. Then leaning on the walls of the sloped ruin were broken vases and what looked like giant urns.

Hope's eyes went to each different one until they reached a large set of metal doors that had worn carvings on it's surface. "Coming?" Farkas's voice broke Hope out of her gaze. She blinked a couple of times and then looked at him, seeing that he was already half way down the crumbling stairs. She gave him a small nod and then quickly followed after him.

Every time she would take a step, she felt like the stairs were going to give out any minute. She didn't understand how these things so long. When they finally reach the bottom, she followed Farkas straight to the door. Instead of opening them, he stops infront of them with his eyebrows furrowed. "What?" Hope asked, noticing his hesitation.

Farkas stared at the door a moment longer, noticing that it was already cracked open a little and through that little crack, he could smell the musty ruin from where he stood. But he could also smell something else, something that didn't mix or belong with the old damp scent. "Farkas?" Hope said as she lightly tapped his arm.

Farkas quickly snapped his attention away from the door and looked down at Hope, who had worry filling her eyes. "Is something wrong?" She asked. Farkas stared at her for a moment longer, examining her eyes before replying. "No, everything's fine."

He saw relief fill her eyes, but he didn't feel relieved at all. He didn't believe the words leaving his own mouth, he only said that to make her feel better and he wasn't sure if he should have done that or not. He didn't want her to let her guard down because she took his words to heart. But then again, Hope has been training under Aela for more than a month now, so she knew better than to let her guard down even if someone told her that everything was fine.

"Alright." Farkas sighed. "Let's go."

He pushed the doors open and when he did they were both immediately hit with a cold, musty wind. It made Hope cough and Farkas's nostrils burn, his sense of smell was greater than the average person after all. So to him, he mine-as well be sticking his nose straight into a muddy pile covered in moss.

They both walk inside of the cold ruin together and begin to look around. A head of them is a large, wide passageway that leads further down into the ruin but in front of them was an old large table that looked like it might of been used for sacrifices, it was hard to tell with how rusty and nearly broken it was. Then leaning on each side of the walls that were across from each other, were large coffins and they had been opened.

A fearful gasp leaves Hope as she sees an old corpse laying out in front of one of the coffins. Farkas looks at her and then looks over to it, seeing that it was no normal corpse. It was a draugr that had been slain.

Hope covered her mouth with her hand as she watched Farkas walk over to it and examine it. He knelt down beside the slain draugr and saw stab wounds going through its back. "That-" Hope has to pause for a moment to swallow a hard lump down her throat. "That doesn't look like a normal corpse." Not that she's ever seen one before, she just took a guess.

"That's because it isn't." Farkas sighed as he stood back up. "It's a draugr."

"Draugr!?" Hope exclaimed in bafflement with her eyes widening.

She's read books written by treasure seekers that speak of the dead that wonder the halls of old Nordic ruins and she's even heard some stories from adventures that stopped at the Inn in Rorikstead for a break. She never imagined she would actually ever see one, or come into contact with one.

"Old ruins like this usually have em, but since they're nothing but walking dry meat on brittle bones they're not hard to take out. At least that's how it is with most of them." Farkas said with a shrug. "I have heard stories of some that can shout you across a room or disarm you with nothing but a word, kind of like how the dragons used to; But those are just stories."

 _'Just stories he says.'_ Hope thinks to herself as she keeps her eyes glued on the dead draugr. She's heard _"just stories"_ from others about them and the one in front of her seems real enough. "Have you...have you ever fought draugr before?" She asked with her eyes slowly looking back up at Farkas.

"A few times." Farkas said with another shrug, as if it wasn't a big deal. "Like I said, they're really not hard to fight. Unless they're in a group, that's when you have to really pay attention on what you're doing." He explained.

"Right..." Hope muttered as she looked back down at the slain draugr. Farkas looked back at her, seeing worry fill her eyes again. "Come on." He said, breaking her out of her worry filled thoughts. "Let's keep going." He told her as he began to walk away.

"But." She said, making him stop and turn back to look at her. "Someone killed this draugr, right?" She asked with her eyes moving to him. "Yeah, seems like it." He replied with his own eyes going back to the slain draugr. "Do you think they're still here?" She asked again.

Farkas's jaw tightened as he raised his arm to rub the back of his neck. He looked back to Hope, who still had her worried filled eyes staring at him. "Could be." He said with a sigh. "But it could also have been an adventurer, someone who came here before us looking for treasure."

"But it looks fresh..." Hope said quietly as she slightly turned her head to look back at the draugr. "Hey." Farkas said, making her look back at him. "Don't think too much about it, we've still got a job to do. If any draugr come our way just stay behind me and I'll show you how to take them out the quick and easy way, alright?"

Hope stared at him for a moment, examining the calmness in his eyes. After a couple seconds of silence, she gave him a nod and then joined him in continuing further on into the deep ruin.


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey Everyone, I'm sorry about the late update! I'm currently on a trip and have been spending the last few days in a car! I actually finished this chapter in the car xD. I'm going to be on my trip all next week as well so the next update might be late too, but I'm going to try and not let it be late! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

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Farkas and Hope proceeded through the old ruin with nothing being said between them and the only thing being heard, were the drops from falling water located somewhere on the ceiling above hem. Hope examined their surroundings closely, she was on high alert for possible enemies, but she was also admiring the carvings in the old stone walls.

They were faint but there enough to see the detail, too bad they were on a job or else she would of liked to slow down and examine the architecture more closely.

"Stop." Farkas's deep voice surprised Hope and made her stop so fast she nearly tripped over her own feet. Luckily she's been training with Aela enough to catch herself quickly before finding herself face first on the floor.

She stopped right behind Farkas (basically right on his heels) and leans to the side a bit to see why he stopped. "See that?" Farkas said while lifting his arm to point out in front of him. Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him and then moved her eyes to see what he was pointing at.

Just in front of them was a medium sized stone staircase and in the middle of it, was what looked like some kind of pressure plate. "What is it?" Hope asked. "It's a trap, you step on that and all sorts of bad will happen. Most old ruins like this have em, so you need to be careful where you step because the last thing I want to do is carry you back to Jorrvaskr on my back." He explained.

"That's the last thing I want too..." Hope murmured as she and Farkas both began to step around the old pressure plate. She couldn't help but grow curious of what would happen if one stepped on it, but she wasn't too eager to find out. It must of not been something good or Farkas wouldn't of felt the need to warn her.

When they reached the end of the stone stairs, they're both immediately hit with a strange kind of gust of air. It was cold and it carried something with it, something that smelled of mold and damp rags. Hope didn't know what it was, but Farkas did.

They take a couple of steps after reaching the end of the stairs before he comes to a quick stop. Hope stops just a few inches a head of him and looks back at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

She stood there for a moment, only staring at him and watching him dart his eyes around; As if expecting something to appear. Before she could open her mouth and ask, Farkas snaps his eyes to Hope and then quickly extends an arm out to grab her. The moment his fingers are able to fully wrap around her wrist, he yanks her towards him.

Hope lets out a startled yelp and then soon after hears something clash against the old stone wall. Farkas had pulled her forward so hard that when he let go, she could do nothing but stumble and then fall forward onto the steps they had just walked down.

Once she's able to regain herself, she quickly turns around and is horrified by what she sees. Just where she was standing a second ago, was now taken up by a walking corpse. Her eyes widen as she moves them to the wall that was just behind her and sees that it's sword is slightly stuck in a deep crack that it had made worse.

If Farkas hadn't of pulled her away in time, she would no longer have a head. She watches the wall crumble as it pulls its sword out with a struggled growl. Then, it turns to Farkas and opens its mouth to let out a horrifying growl that Hope knew would haunt her dreams.

Even though it was a frightening moment for Hope, it was a teachable one for Farkas. "Now, pay attention." He told her as he drew his great-sword.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down as she moved her eyes to him. He could sense her bafflement of the situation and couldn't help but allow a small smile to spread across his face. Not a moment longer after he told her to watch, the draugr quickly charged right for him with its own great-sword ready for swinging and possibly chopping limbs off.

When the draugr takes its first swing towards Farkas, he quickly jumps back which makes the draugr stumble forward; and while it was stumbling forward, Farkas swiftly stepped around and hit it on the back of its knee with the pommel of his sword. Breaking the brittle bone and forcing it to fall forward.

"Always go for their weak spots, which is several." He said as he watched the draugr struggle to get up. It would get to one knee but the moment it would raise its broken one, it would only fall foward again with an angry growl leaving it.

Hope blinked a couple of times as she slowly stood back up to her feet. She stared down at the fallen draugr while approaching it carefully. The moment she took a step forward it let out a horrifying scream and lunged at her.

Hope yelped and jumped back away from it and watched it struggle to get back up again. "Go a head, finish the job." Farkas said, causing Hope to snap her head up at him with wide eyes. "Go on." He repeated with his head nodding towards the draugr.

Hope stared at Farkas for a moment longer and then slowly brought her attention back to the broken corpse before her. She slowly grabbed her bow with one hand while grabbing an arrow with the other. As she readied her arrow, the draugr made a strange noise as it brought its head up to stare at her.

Hope knocked back her arrow on the string of her bow and looked directly in the hollow eyes of the corpse. When she stared into the dark pits, she felt strange. "Mindok Kruziik Al Alok." Its words leave its mouth and go directly through her.

A quiet, shocked gasp leaves her as she feels the words hit her. They hit something inside of her, something that causes her ears to buzz and mute everything else around her. Her mind works rapidly to understand the words it spoke, but she can't..right? She's never heard language like that before and yet...her body reacts to it as if it should know them.

With her bow slowly being lowered, she continues to stare into the deep depths of its hallowed eyes. "Wh...what?" She breaths, hearing her own words echo in her ears. The draugr only continues to stare up at her, its eyes burning into hers, almost as if it were trying to set-aflame something inside of her.

 _ **SCHLIIK!**_ The sound of Farkas running his sword through the draugr knocked Hope out of her dazy state. She quickly blinked a few times and then looked up at Farkas with wide surprised eyes. "It's okay to get freaked out like that by them, especially since it's your first time seeing one move around." He said while pulling his sword out of the now slain corpse.

Hope watches it fall limp to the floor as Farkas continues to speak. "But don't let yourself freeze up like that again or else something really bad could happen."

She continued to stare down at the draugr's lifeless body for a moment, and then looked back up to Farkas with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. Was that what had just happened? Was it fear that caused Hope's ears to buzz and her body to freeze? She would like to think so, but something inside of her was telling her otherwise.

Farkas watched her for a moment, seeing a storm of emotions go through her eyes. First he saw confusion and then...maybe fear? He couldn't know for sure. All he did know was how strange Hope had acted after the draugr spoke to her. He guessed it was fear because of how the draugr seemed to be speaking directly towards her.

He found that strange as well, he had watched it look straight into her eyes and speak what sounded like a full sentence. He's heard them speak before whenever he would come into battle with them, but it was usually only a word spoken in a growl.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and then placed his great-sword back in its place on his back. "Come on." He said, breaking the silence that had formed between them. "Let's keep going, I imagine we have a while to go before we reach the end of this ruin."

Hope gave him a short nod and then watched him turn around and proceed on a head. Before following him, she looks back down at the lifeless draugr for just a moment and then quickly steps over it to catch up to Farkas.

They walk through what seems like a type of catacomb that had all sorts of twists and turns. A couple of times they took a wrong turn and would end up in a dead end. Farkas would always sigh in frustration before turning around to find another way through the maze like catacombs.

Finally after another wrong turn, they seem to find the right way. It was making Hope uneasy how many turns and corners there were, making her never know when another draugr might come into sight.

As they start to turn another corner, they both hear something on the other side of it that causes them to stop. Farkas quickly reaches back and grips the hilt of his sword as he eyes the sharp turn, expecting something to appear around it.

Hope follows Farkas's actions and grabs her bow along with an arrow, ready for whatever might walk into view. Just as they both hear strange noises, they begin to hear footsteps following after.

Hope quickly became tense as the approaching footsteps drew closer to them. "It's okay." Farkas whispered back to her, already sensing the anxiety inside of her. He reached back behind him and softly placed a hand on her shoulder, he felt her relax a little against his touch but that didn't make the fear from the uncertainty of the situation go away. She was just glad she wasn't doing this alone.

Suddenly, the footsteps stop and it becomes completely silent. Farkas and Hope both furrowed their eyebrows down as they both exchanged glances. Then-"Farkas!" Hope yelled and the moment she did, he ducked.

 _ **CLING!**_ The sound of an axe hitting the corner of the turning wall echos through out the ruin and then following the loud echo was a loud growl that made them both jump into action. Farkas quickly backed up away from the draugr with his great-sword already in hand and Hope followed his actions with her arrow being pulled back.

They both stand several feet away from the draugr and watch it stand there, glaring at them. _'What's it doing?'_ Farkas wondered. _'Why isn't it attacking?'_

That question was soon answered. They watched it slowly stand up straight, slightly turn its body and then point its axe directly at them. "Shit." Cursed Farkas, meaning that he knew what that meant.

Hope turned to stare at Farkas with worried eyes and the moment she did, two more draugr came charging around the corner. "Look out!" Shouted Farkas as he quickly moved back to force Hope to move back. He wanted to try and protect her from the majority of the attacks but he knew she needed to learn how to fight things like the draugr. "Alright." He breathed out in a hurry. "I'll block them from reach you and try to take them out, your job is keeping them from sticking a sword or axe in my back. Got it?"

Hope quickly nodded as she took a couple more steps back. "Aaagh!" Farkas yelled as he charged right for the two that were charging for them. He quickly stops just a foot away from them and then holds his sword up to block off their attacks. His great-sword was big enough to keep their axes from landing any hits on him.

Hope saw the third draugr charge right for Farkas, with him blocking the attacks from the first two she knew he wouldn't of been able to protect himself from that draugr's attacks. So she needed to jump into action.

She quickly knocked her arrow back on the string of her bow and released it without any hesitation. The arrow landed straight in the skull of the draugr, but it didn't stop it. Instead, it only made the draugr stagger back and then look to Hope with anger in its eyes.

Hope's eyes widened in bafflement but she supposed she shouldn't of been too surprised, it was nothing but a walking corpse after all.

The draugr quickly ran around Farkas and the other two attacking him and charged right for Hope. "Go for the weak spots!" Yelled Farkas as he bashed his sword against the two in front him to force them to stagger back.

Hope obeyed and quickly drew another arrow, she pulled it back and held it up in the direction of the draugr that was coming right for her. She moved her eyes down to its moving legs and saw open flesh on its upper leg. She didn't know if that counted as a weak spot but she didn't really have time to debate that, so without any hesitation, she releases her arrow.

The arrow landed right in the open flesh on its leg and it goes deep. She can hear it and can see the tail end of her arrow sticking out just barely. The draugr let out what sounded like a painful cry, but could draugr really feel pain? No one could know.

She watched the corpse immediately hit the ground the moment her arrow penetrated its rotting skin. It struggled to sit up but when it did, it looked directly at her just like the last one did. The only difference this time was she didn't wait for it to speak, the moment its eyes met hers she released another arrow into its face and this time it did the job and killed it.

When it fell limp to the ground Hope quickly readied another arrow and shot it at one of the other draugrs that was attacking Farkas. This arrow landed in the draugr's neck, making it bring its attention to her and the moment its attention was averted from Farkas he ran his sword right through the corpse.

Farkas then yanked his sword out of the torso of the draugr and then swung it downwards towards the legs of the other one. It's legs were so brittle and frail that the moment his sword swung across them, they both broke in half. The draugr fell to the ground, now legless and looks up at Farkas with a mean glare. Though it could no longer walk or fight, it could still create a sound that sent chills down Hope's spine.

 _ **CRUNCH CLANG!**_ Two ugly sounds came from Farkas cutting through the draugr's skull with his sword and then hitting the stone floor with it once it cut through the bone. "There." Farkas sighed as he wiped the blade of his great-sword off with a dirty rag that he always carried in his side pouch. Hope watched him for a moment and then looked down at the three draugr that they had just slain.

"Something wrong?" Farkas asked after noticing her attention falling on the slain corpses. "No." Hope replied as she continued to examine the draugr. "I just wonder why these things still wonder around like this." She said.

"I dunno." Farkas said with a shrug as he placed his great-sword back in its place as well as his dirty rag. "Kodlak used to tell us stories about them though, theories to why they do still walk the earth."

Hope looked back up at him, curious to what those stories are. "Kodlak once told us that many believe that they still walk around after death as punishment from the gods." He told her as he himself started to examine the slain draugr before them.

"Punishment?" Hope questioned. "Yeah." Farkas nodded. "They say that when dragons ruled over man, some worshiped the beasts. After the dragon war was over the gods punished those that worshiped and worked for the dragons by keeping them alive, even after death; When Kodlak first told us that story I wondered how immortality was a punishment, but seeing them now...It doesn't really look like immortality does it?"

Hope slowly shook her head in response as she slowly looked back down at the draugr. Farkas too stared at the draugr for a moment longer, but then quickly shook himself out of his thoughts. He looked back up at Hope and said. "Come on, let's keep moving."

She looked back up at him and gave him a nod as a response and then followed him as they both continued down into the ruin.

Farkas and Hope both find their way through the maze like catacombs in a cautiouse silence, turning every corner with careful steps. When they finally reach the end of the tomb like halls, they find themselves approaching a large room with an open gate leading into it. "Huh." Farkas said out loud as he and Hope both walked into the large room.

"Looks like a room that was used for rituals, a lot of old ruins like this have em." He said as he stopped before a set of stairs and looked around more. Hope stood beside him for a moment and then started to slowly walk down the stairs while looking around carefully.

The room was mostly empty aside from old rusty metal tables and another small room that was connected to it. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and moved her eyes to a large gate that was closed on the other side of the room. She quickly walked across the large chamber and approached the metal gate.

She gripped the thick bars and shook the gate, it was stuck firm. "There should be a lever somewhere around here." Said Farkas, he was watching Hope from the middle of the room. "I'll go look over here, look in that room over there." He told her before turning and walking to the said area.

A small sigh leaves her as she backs away from the large metal gate. She then turns around and walks to the small room that was attached to the large chamber. When she steps into it she looks around. The room looked like it used to be some kine of storage space. She saw old rusty knives that looked like they were meant for making precise cuts.

She averts her attention from the small knives, not wanting to think about what they might have been used for. When she moved her eyes away she saw on a large metal shelf like table, was a lever. She quickly walked over to it and gripped it hard. It was old and had some rust to it, so to be able to move it, she really had to pull.

The lever groaned and squealed as it moved and was pulled to the very end. Hope holds her breath as she pulls it the rest of the way and the moment she hears something click inside it, she releases with a relieved sigh leaving her.

That relief she was feeling was taken over by panic when she heard a large metal gate slam close behind her. She quickly turned around and felt her heart drop when she saw that she was trapped in the small room. "Farkas!" She yelled as she ran up to the metal gate.

Farkas was already making his way over when she reached the gate. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the panic in her eyes. "Now look what you've done." He said with an amused smile. Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him. "It's not funny." She said.

"It's a little funny." Farkas chuckled again. He moved his eyes up the gate to see if there were any faults in it, but he didn't see any. "Just hold tight." He told her as he gripped the gate and started giving it a hard shake. Hope backed away from the gate and watched him hopelessly shake the old iron gate. "You really think that's going to work?" She questioned with her arms crossing over her breast and an eyebrow raising.

A sigh leaves Farkas as he lets go of the gate and takes a couple of steps away from it. "Let me see if I can-" He's cut off by a loud bang being heard from across the room. It was the other gate and it had suddenly opened.

Soon after, they both heard several footsteps running in their direction. Hope's eyes widened as she watched Farkas quickly become surrounded.

Farkas slowly turned around and found at least half a dozen people surrounding him. Every single one of them had a weapon drawn and they were quickly closing in on him. He quickly grabbed his great-sword and was backed up by the ones surrounding him. "Get back Hope." He ordered and she obeyed. She looked at every single person that was closing in on him with wide panicked eyes. Just who were these people and why were they here? Are they bandits? Are they going to try and kill Farkas? If so then how would she be able to help him? There was no way that he was going to be able to take them all himself.

Farkas's eyes narrowed in on their weapons. One of them passed through a bean of light that was showing through the hole in ceiling and when they did, he could see the silver reflect off of their weapon. _'The Silver hand.'_

"Time to die, dog!" One of them yells as they all come to a stop. Farkas clutches his sword tightly as he eyes every single one of them, trying to figure out how he was going to take them all out. Hope furrows her eyebrows as she moves her eyes to Farkas, did they know him somehow?

"We knew you'd be coming here, getting you here was easy." One bragged. Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down at them, not understanding what they were going on about. "I guess even dogs like things that are shiny." Another said with an amused grin. _'Are they talking about the Wuuthrad piece? Was this a trap?'_ Farkas wonders as he feels the hard iron of the gate at his back.

"Hang on.." One said as they peered over at Hope. "Which one is that? I don't recognize her."

"It doesn't matter, she travels with this beast then that means she's one of them." Another said.

"Right..."

 _'Dammit!'_ Farkas cursed to himself as his jaw tightened. What was he to do? He was outnumbered and there was no way to free Hope from where he was and once they kill him, they'll go straight for her. "Farkas." Hope's frightened voice got his attention and had him slightly turn his head so that he could look back at her.

She was frightened, panicked, and also confused. Confused on what was going on and why these people spoke to Farkas like they knew him. _'Dammit...'_

He didn't want to, but he had no choice. He was outnumbered and if he didn't allow the beast inside him to take over, then they both were going to be dead very soon. "Hope..." Farkas said back to her. Hope blinked as she watched him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Please don't be afraid." He whispered.

"Wh..what?" She questioned in a whisper. "Killing you will make for an excellent story." One of them said, bringing Hope's attention to them.

"Too bad non of you will be alive to tell it..." Now Hope's attention is back on Farkas. Was he going to try and fight them? If so then how? How is he going to take them all on his own? Those questions were answered once Farkas dropped his sword and she heard a deep growl rumble in his chest.

Hope watched everyone that surrounded Farkas watch him with furrowed eyebrows and then saw fear and panic quickly take over their faces.

"Shiiisss." Hope hisses sharply as a sharp pain shoots up the back of her leg. The pain was so great she had to kneel down and hold onto the back of it. _'What's going on?'_

That was soon answered when another deep growl was heard, a familiar growl that she has heard before. Her eyes widen as she slowly moves her head back up and what she sees sends a painful strike of fear right through her, one so bad that she just wanted to be sick.

She watched the skin over his-or would he be an it? Because at the moment she didn't know-muscles stretch and expand and then one by one his armor pieces popped off and landed somewhere far in the room. Next was the sickening sound of bones cracking and growing. Hope winced every single time she heard one break out of place and then reposition itself.

Then she saw thick, bundles of black fur sprout all over his body. Her jaw dropped as her eyes followed his body that started to tower over everyone else in the room. She was no longer looking at Farkas, a mighty warrior. No, now in front her was a monster.

"Kill it!" The frightened shout echoed all around them and the moment it was heard, everyone that surrounded the monster charged and so did the beast.

They all swung their blades in its direction but their efforts were fruitless because the beast tore them apart in seconds.

A frightened gasp leaves Hope the moment she sees blood start to fly. She falls back on her behind and finds herself unconsciously scooting away from the iron gate in a panic. She watches throats being ripped out and limbs being thrown, she felt so helpless in that moment she didn't know what to do either than covering her ears and hiding her face in her knees. Once again, she didn't feel like a mighty warrior, she felt like a scared child.

For a moment and for what seemed like eternity, all Hope could hear were muffled screams and guts being sliced open. Then everything fell silent, but she refused to take her hands off of her ears. Until she heard the iron gate open that is. She quickly snapped her head up with tear filled eyes looking out in front of her. Afraid that she was going to be the beasts next meal, but it was no longer there. Only the remains of those who were just slain were there.

Silence filled the air around her, all she could hear were her sniffs and shaky exhales as her eyes stayed glued to the pools of blood and pieces of entrails. Just what was she to do? Run? Fight? Half a dozen people couldn't take on that beast, so how was she going to?

Suddenly the quick patter of feet was heard from the other side of the room, Hope gasped as she quickly scrambled to her feet and thought quickly on what to do.

Farkas wasn't sure what to expect when he would face Hope, but when he came into view and saw her raise an arrow in his direction...well he certainly didn't expect that. Farkas quickly held up a hand in her direction while covering himself with the other. But she wasn't looking at that part of him, she was looking at his face. Her eyes were wide with tears streaming down them and spilling from them was betrayal.

"Hope..." He spoke and the moment he did she tightened her grip on her arrow and pulled it back farther. Farkas was taken back by that, his eyes moved to the bow and then moved back up to her face. To see such fear and panic in her eyes broke his heart. What must she be thinking now? How did she see him now?

Monster was the answer to that, to her right now he was nothing more than a monster that had just tore several people to apart.

He watched her try and blink tears away, but all that did was make more trail down her cheeks. They both stood there in a heavy silence for several seconds until Hope was the one to break it. "Was it you?"

Farkas blinked and then knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "What?" He asked calmly. "Was it you?" She asked again with her eyes remaining wide and glued on him. She didn't dare look away from him, she didn't dare trust him not to lung and rip out her throat next.

Farkas stared at her for a moment longer until it clicked, his eyes quickly went to her legs and the one that he knew was scared; and it was trembling, almost like it was about to give out. He brought his eyes back up to her face and her expression hasn't changed. Her chest was rising and falling at a steady pace but only because she was making it so, he could tell only because he could hear her rabit heart beat.

"No." He finally spoke and he did so as calmly as he could. Hope blinked again with more tears escaping from her eyes. She takes in a deep breath while keeping her grip on her bow tight. "Do you know who it was?" She asked in a strained voice.

She watched Farkas slightly open his mouth and then close it again with his jaw tightening afterwords. That's all she needed for an answer.

"Are-" She has to stop to swallow down a hard lump and then take in a deep breath. "Are the rest of the Companions like...you?" She shakily asked. "No." Farkas quickly answered hoping that would help the situation, but it didn't.

"Only those in the circle have the beast blood like me, I promise. Nobody else knows about it." He told her quickly again.

What?! Everyone in the circle was a beast like him? Was a monster like him? Aela? Skjor? Kodlak?...Vilkas?

A sharp pain is sent through Hope's chest, she felt like an arrow had just gone through her heart and out her back. Her throat tightened as did her chest and her heart sunk. All of her life she had been dreaming about the Companions, about a warriors life. But this? Not in a million years would she ever have thought that they would turn out to be...monsters...

The very word going through her mind made her stomach knot and her lungs take in sharp, shaky breaths. She felt betrayed, she felt hurt, and she felt lied to. _'Don't be silly, werewolves are just stories.'_ Aela's words ring in her ears.

They all called her silly, made fun of her for it and told her she was only seeing things. Quickly, it was betrayal that was taking over her body and killing off any other emotion she was feeling. She started to wonder what they did afterwards. While Hope slept did they laugh at the fright they gave her? Did they enjoy making her feel and look like a fool?

They call themselves Companions, warriors with honor, but were they really? At the moment Hope didn't think so...All she could think was how she was chased through a dark field for what felt like hours; All she could think about was the pain she felt when her leg was sliced into and her back was punctured.

Now all she could think about was...who actually did it? It wasn't Farkas, it couldn't of been Skjor because he was the one who chased the beast away. It wasn't Aela, she was back at Jorrvaskr with Kodlak. The only one left was...

Another sharp pain is sent through her heart, one that makes her drop her arms and nearly drop to her knees. Farkas watches her with concern in his eyes and sees her lip begin to tremble. "Vilkas?" She sharply breathed.

Farkas's jaw tightened again and that sent a surge of pain right through her. He was the one? The one who tormented her that night and then the next day checked on her wounds like he actually cared? Was he admiring his work? Was he proud of himself for what he did to her? Was this all a big game to him? To them?

"Hope." Farkas's voice brings her attention back to him. She saw that he had slowly started to gather what armor he could off the ground. Some of his had been destroyed so he had to wear some of the silver hand he had killed. Hope watched him with a sickening look appearing in her eyes as he gathered up what he could from the remains.

"Please, just listen to what I have to say." He pleaded. Why should she? Why should she allow him to make her feel like a fool again? If she were to live up to being a warrior, one with honor then she should cut him down where he stands.

But she doesn't, she only stares at him and allows him to speak. "I know this all seems too much right now, I know how you must feel. But please don't be afraid, we would never hurt anyone; Especially one of our own." Hope quickly snorted to that in response, making Farkas wince and nearly eat his own words.

"What happened with you...it was an accident...something that happens sometimes." He tried to explain and to his relief Hope's eyes softened, but only a little. She would like to believe him, she would like to think that Vilkas would never hurt her and perhaps maybe the reason he checked her wounds was because he felt bad? Was worried? She wanted to believe that...but she just didn't know if she could.

"If you just finish this job with me and see that I can control it, that all of us can control it. Then Kodlak will explain everything to you when we get back, he can set your heart at ease." He told her while he started to get dressed.

Hope watched him and then slowly moved her eyes away from him. What was she to do? Would it be insane to give them a chance? Farkas said he had it under control but what about the dead people in front of her? They hunted him down because they obviously knew what he was...so what does it really make him since he sliced them all down without mercy?

She didn't know, she just didn't know and she couldn't walk away. She did need answers, she did need assurance. She needed to be told that her dreams weren't fruitless and the people that she's looked up to all of her life weren't monsters. If she were to walk away now, she would never know.

Farkas watched her slowly reach up and hold onto the necklace that she always wore, she had her eyes glued to the wall closest to her and had what looked like a million thoughts going through her mind. She was hesitant and he understood why, this wasn't how they usually told others their secrets so gods only knows how she saw them now...how she saw him now.

Farkas tensed up when he saw her look back at him again. She stared at him for a moment and then closed her eyes while slowly inhaling a deep breath. "Okay..." She breathed. She's going to give them a chance and gods she hoped that it wasn't going to be a mistake.


	32. Chapter 32

Hey guys, another late chapter (sorry ^.^") but I am back from my trip now so the next chapter should be up Thursday like always! (Or maybe before that if we're lucky ^.^") I hope this one isn't too short, I just didn't want to make you guys wait any longer. I hope it's still good!

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Hope had her back turned to Farkas while he got dressed, it took him a while because a lot of the armor he strapped on was covered in blood and...things. When he started putting it all on, Hope had quickly turned away from him and walked to the iron gate across the room to wait for him.

When he was finally done, he placed his sword on his back and then joined her by the gate. The moment he stopped beside her she asked him. "Who were those people?"

Farkas blinked at her and then turned his head to what little remains there were of them. He then quickly turned away from the messy scene and looked down, he didn't like seeing what he did. When he allowed the beast to emerge he didn't expect it to go crazy like that, but it had been a long time since Farkas stopped his transformations and he wondered if the wolf inside him did all of that on purpose.

"Their called the Silver Hand." He answered as he kept his eyes down on the floor. "They attacked you because they knew what you were...right?" She asked, keeping her eyes forward and away from him.

"That's right..." Farkas replied.

"So then...does that mean they were like Vigilants of Stendarr?" She asked again.

Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her. Where did she come up with that? "Huh?" He questioned her.

"Vigilants of Stendarr, you know...people who hunt Dremora...the unnatural..." She replied. "Monsters."

A sharp pain was sent through him when that word left her lips. _'Monsters.'_ It echoed in his mind and it left her mouth so smoothly. Was that really what she thought? Was that really how she saw them now?

Farkas knits his eyebrows together as he watches Hope slowly look at him. Her eyebrows were lowered and her eyes showed fear...distrust. She may have been giving him a chance but that didn't mean she could trust him or allow herself to drop her guard around him. "Those people...The Silver Hand..." She continues. "Did they deserve to die like the bandits that Vilkas and I killed?"

A heavy sigh leaves Farkas instead of a response. He turns away from Hope and begins to walk away. "Come on." He said without stopping. "We need to keep going, the sooner we get this done...the better." Hope watched him walk away for a moment and then hesitantly followed after him.

They both walked in a heavy silence that only made things more uncomfortable than they already were. They walked down another long hallway, along the walls of the hallway were old doors that had been destroyed and gates that would no longer open. Hope wanted to look at them, but she refused to take her eyes off of Farkas.

She walked just a couple of feet behind him and kept her eyes glued to his back, to his muscles. If any muscles twitched or moved, she would know and wouldn't be taken by surprise. _'Stop.'_ An inner voice spoke. _'Farkas is your friend as are the rest of the Companions, if they wanted to hurt you then they would have done it by now.'_

The words inside her head were her own and she still couldn't be sure if she should believe them. Farkas was her friend and she would like to trust him, but she just couldn't. The scars on the back of her leg still pulsed with pain as did the old wound on her back. The memory was still fresh in her mind and every time she would think of it, Vilkas would appear in her head and a sharp pain would surge through her chest.

So, she had to put that memory to the far back of her mind as well as her doubt and trust. All she really needed to do was keep an eye on Farkas and just see what happens next.

They continue to go deeper into the old ruin, it felt like the more they descended into the crumbling structure the colder it would get. "Stop." Farkas's voice startles Hope and causes a small gasp to leave her. She immediately stops just behind him and looks at him, studying his face.

He had his head tilted up and she watched his nostrils flare. It took her a moment to realize that he was smelling the air and possibly others nearby. _'I guess he has everything a dog would have...'_ She thought to herself as she continued to watch him. A dog...she would rather think of them as harmless four legged creatures than the beasts they transform to, but that was out of the question. Especially since she was attacked by...one of them.

"There's Silver Hand up a head." Farkas said with his head turning back to Hope but then quickly turned away again. He couldn't bare the look in her eyes every time he looked into them, she agreed to give him a chance but that didn't mean she trusted him not to turn around and tear her apart.

"The Silver Hand..." Hope spoke, causing Farkas's muscles to tense when she did. "Just who are they?" She asked.

Farkas's jaw tightened as he kept his eyes away from her for a moment. He was trying to find a way to explain them without making her get the wrong idea about the Companions...again.

A sigh leaves him before he turns around towards her, she examines him when he does and can see a heaviness in his eyes. But was it real? Or was he only putting on a false mask to get her to lower her guard? If so then he was out of luck, because Hope had quick reflexes and if he tried anything he'd soon find an arrow between his eyes. _'Stop.'_ She tells herself again, but doesn't listen anyways.

"The Silver Hand-" He stops to clear his throat and then allow another deep sigh to leave him. "They're werewolf hunters."

"Oh I see." She replies all too quickly with her eyes filling up more with the looks she had been giving him. "But they're not what you think!" He quickly speaks, trying to stop her head from filling with the wrong things.

"You mean like the Companions?" She questioned with venom showing in her voice.

Farkas winced as if she had actually spat poison at him, those words stung and it showed. She watched him bring up a hand to his face and use it to rub his forehead. He had his head bowed and his eyes closed, it was obvious he was thinking; But what about? She wasn't sure she wanted to know what could possibly go through the head of a beast. _'Stop.'_ There's her inner voice again, trying to intervene her anger.

But it was no use, the anger was already planted in deep with in her and all she could feel was it and betrayal; And every time it came to her, her heart would drop and her chest would tighten. As if her body would suddenly forget to breath and just make her suffocate.

She didn't know if she was being over dramatic or not (if one could even be over dramatic about the situation she was in) but she did know that she didn't care. She didn't care because she was too hurt at the moment to care.

She remembered the first day in Whiterun when she saw them, the Companions. She watched them walk by her with their chests out and heads held high. They walked with honor and pride. Thinking on that memory hurt, but what hurt her the most was the way she felt that day. The way her heart slammed against her chest when she laid eyes on them, the way her stomach shriveled when they walked by her, and especially the way her lungs tightened when his eyes met with hers. When Vilkas's eyes met with hers.

The fond but now painful memory was so fresh it mine-as of been a painting in her mind. She'll never forget that day and she'll never forget the pain swelling in her chest in that moment. That day she left her family...left Erik for them, she gave up what she had to be one of them. Now at that moment, she felt as if the gods themselves were punishing her for abandoning her family. For making them survive without her, just what would her mother think now?

A sharp surge of pain is shot through Hope's chest and for a moment, she thought it was her emotions. That was until the pain became hot and started to hurt not just her chest, but her whole body.

"Hope!" Farkas yelled but it didn't sound like a yell, it sounded like a distant call.

The next thing she knew her whole body become numb and she could no longer move, all she could do was fall and feel the cold hard floor hit her on the back of the head. "Far..." She tried to speak, but nothing came out but a faint whisper.

Her tongue swells and her throat tightens, she can no longer breathe, she can no longer see. Her vision blackened and her hearing suddenly increased. She heard the sounds of fighting, it sounded like the swords were slamming against each other right next to her ears. Every single time she heard them clash a sharp pain would surge through her head, that was when she felt a trickle of blood run from her ear and down her neck.

 _'Help me!'_ She wants to cry but she can't. Her body suddenly panicked, allowing her to raise her hands and scratch at her throat. She tried gasping for air but all she could do was choke on her swollen tongue. Tears run down the sides of her face as her body now lashes out from side to side. She grabs for the air and then grabs at her throat again, nails digging into the flesh but she couldn't feel them. She could only feel the pressure from them. _'What's going on!?'_

She chokes more with her hands now grabbing at the stone floor beside her, she scratches at the hard surface and can feel her nails start to chip away. Her body lashes out more but now on its own accord. She no longer has control over it and all she can do is feel it yank itself from side to side, slamming her into the hard floor. If death were to come next, then she would gladly welcome it.

Suddenly, a strong pair of arms stop her. They wrap around her to keep her still and hold her close. She can feel hot breath against her cheek, as if someone were trying to speak to her but she couldn't hear them. Now instead of increased sound from her surroundings, all she could hear was a high pitched ring that made her head pulse with intense pain.

Her body continued to try and lash out but the strong arms around her wouldn't let it. That's when she felt a hand grip the side of her face and open her mouth with its thumb. Soon cool liquid made its way past her swollen tongue and trickle down her tightened throat.

The strong pair of arms wrapped tightly around her body tightened, holding her close and as still as they could. Then all of a sudden, her body begins to calm down and she can feel her tongue shrink as well as her throat open.

A panicked gasp leaves her as she grabs at the air above her once again, still unable to see. She feels something warm take her hand and hold it against a beating heart, but not her heart. One that was forced to be calm and one that allowed her to calm down and let whatever just enter her body take over. Her arm slowly fell limp to the side as did her body in the large set of arms, then soon nothing was on her mind but the desperate want for sleep.

Sweat beads on her forehead, raspy breaths leave her open mouth, her head moves from side to side violently. What was going on? Why did it feel like everything was on fire? Why can't she wake up? She wants to cry out, ask for help, but she can't. Only small whimpers leave her lips one at a time, barely audible.

What was once nothing but darkness behind her lids is now replaced by a horrible image. An image of something...some kind of great beast with fiery-red eyes that glowed and ate her alive. Looking apon it hurt but she couldn't look away, it was as if something was holding her head in place forcing her to look at it.

A deep growl is heard from whatever was in front of her and thick smoke starts to seep out from what looked like its mouth; And then. ' _Mindok Kruziik Al Alok_.' The words spoken to her before by a draugr repeat in her mind. ' _Mindok Kruziik Al Alok_.' They repeat again and then again and again and again. Until they echoed loudly into her mind, forcing her to be unable to hear anything else around her.

Then suddenly, another loud growl comes from the giant beast before her, making the painful echoes stop. It stares at her, eyes burning into her, into her soul and then it opens its mouth and from the black hole comes a wave of fire. It hits her hard and causes her whole body to burn. It was so intense she could no longer tell if she were awake or asleep, but then the fire stops and nothing is in front of her but the darkness from before.

"Uuuuh..." She groans loudly as she slowly moves her head to the side and tightens her eyes. She wants to open them but her body won't allow it, it was just too painful. "Hope?" A familiar and welcome voice is heard from her side.

It was Farkas and she was more than relieved to hear him even though just moments ago she didn't want anything to do with him. Well..now that's changed. "Far..." She tries to speak but can only get part of his name out. Her lungs immediately gave up once she got that much out and forced her to stop to take in a deep breath.

"Take it easy." He told her in a calm and soothing voice. She lifts her arm and grabs at the air, she wasn't sure what she was grabbing for but when she felt his hand take a hold of hers, she no longer cared. Feeling the warmth from his giant hand sent ripples of relief through her body, helping chase the pain away.

A deep relieved sigh leaves her as she relaxes against the hard floor underneath her. Farkas holds her hand against his heart again just like he did before and she concentrated on its rhythm. Her own heart beat started to follow its lead as her lungs took in deep but slow breaths.

After laying there like that for a good minute, she's finally able to speak a little. "What...what happened?" She asked while trying to open her eyes.

The lids to her eyes opened half-way before quickly closing again from a sudden bright light that caused a sharp pain to surge through her head. A small groan left her as she raised her free hand up to rub the top of her forehead.

"You were shot with a poisoned arrow." He answered her as he watched her rub circles on her for head. "Poisoned arrow..." She replied quietly. Everything that had just happened to her made sense now, what was going on with her body was due to the poison's effects. She also decides that was what caused such a crazy and intense dream to come to her.

She lets out a deep sigh as she decides to try and open her eyes again, but slowly this time. She lays her hand back down to her side as she forces her eyes to open. She winces from the sudden flash of light but instead of shutting her eyes again, she just blinked them several times, forcing them to get used to the light around her.

When she had her eyes fully opened, her vision was blurred for a moment but that went away when she started to blink several times. The first thing she focused on was Farkas and the first she saw once he stopped being a big blur, was worry spilling from his eyes. She blinked a couple of more times before asking him. "Was it..the Silver Hand?"

Farkas nodded. "What kind of-agh!" She cries out in pain as she started to try sitting up. "Take it easy." Farkas said as he tightened his hold on her hand and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. She groans while continuing to sit up and Farkas helps her by keeping his arm behind her and allowing her to keep her hold on him so that she could pull herself up.

Once she was fully sitting up, she exhales deeply and then turns her head to Farkas to look at him. "What kind of poison what that? I've never been in so much pain before." She said with tears filling her eyes, just talking about it made her body ache.

"I'm not sure what it is, but I do know it's something they created themselves. It's a poison that's meant for...werewolves.." He told her with his eyes slowly lowering to the floor.

"If you were hit with the arrow instead of me, would that have happened to you?" She asked with her eyes widening in bafflement. "No, it would've been worse for me." He replied.

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen it before."

Hope's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Farkas sighed as he brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a long story." He told her after sitting there quietly for a moment. Hope continued to stare at him, wanting to hear the story.

He sighed again as he lowered his arm and looked up at her. "I was going off on a hunt one night and while walking through the forest before I transformed, I came across another werewolf." He told her. "One that wasn't part of the Companions and one that hadn't gone completely feral like so many have. He didn't attack me and I didn't attack him, in fact when I came upon him, it looked like he wanted to talk to me." He continued with his eyes falling back to the floor.

"But before he could even get the chance to open his mouth, an arrow came from the distance and landed on the back of his shoulder. It normally wouldn't of done anything but make him mad because it wasn't a silver arrow, but it made him drop to the ground. That's how I knew it was poisoned." He sighed.

"I watched him thrash around on the ground, howling in pain as his mouth foamed and his ears bled. Then soon his nose bled too as did his eyes, the poison took away all senses from him, ones that are important to us. Then the foam coming out of his mouth soon turned to blood and that's when he died."

Hope's mouth hung open as she had a hand covering it. "How awful..." She said from behind it. "They tried killing me that day too, but I was faster than them and killed them first." He told her. "After I killed them, I found the vials full of poison on them as well as antidotes. I imagine they carried them around just incase they were stupid enough to stab themselves with the poison."

"That's what I used on you by the way, to stop the poisons effects on you." He told her with a small nod.

Hope quickly looked down as she lowered her hand from her face, she sat there quietly for a moment before quietly telling him. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." He quickly replied. "I wasn't about to let you die like that, especially in front of me."

"I wouldn't of blamed you if you did..." She muttered with her eyes remaining down.

Farkas knits his eyebrows together as he asks. "Why would you say that?"

"Because of the way I was treating you...the way I was looking at you..." She quietly replied, again in a mutter. "I shouldn't of reacted so harsh like that..."

"Honestly, I would be worried if you hadn't." He said, bringing her eyes back up to him. "I didn't like seeing that much fear in your eyes, especially towards me; But it just means you're human, fear is natural especially to something that is...unnatural..."

Hope blinked at him a few times and then decided to stand up on her feet. The first attempt at it had her falling back down the moment she got to her knees. Farkas quickly jumped up and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Take it easy, I don't think you're ready to stand yet."

Hope quickly brushed his hands off of her shoulders and tried again, but this time she grabbed a hold of Farkas's hands and he let her. He held them tightly as he watched her slowly stand to her feet. The moment she stood flat on them, she stumbled forward and into Farkas. He quickly caught her in his arms and kept her from falling.

He heard a deep exhale leave her as she placed both hands on his upper arms and pushed herself back. Farkas watched her color disappear from her cheeks for a moment and then watched it slowly come back. She closed her eyes as she continued to stand there and take in deep, steady breaths.

"You okay?" He asked. "Yeah." She breathed. She slowly opened her eyes back up and looked up at him with a small smile spreading across her face. Farkas stared at her for a moment and then quickly looked away while clearing his throat.

Hope let out another deep breath as she let go of Farkas and stumbled back a few steps. He quickly looked back at her and held his hands up in case she fell forward again, but she was fine and her body was regaining itself.

She still felt the lingering effects of the poison, but she was well enough to continue. She let out a sigh as she started to look around for her stuff. She was surprised to see a small fire was made with old pieces of wood and linen wrap. She furrowed her eyebrows down as she looked back to Farkas. "How long was I out?"

"About a couple hours, I think." He replied.

Hope's eyes widened in shock. "Couple of hours?!" She exclaimed in bewilderment. "We could've been done by now..." She muttered while running a hand through her messy hair.

"Probably not." Farkas said with a shrug. "Some of these old ruins can take nearly a day to explore, a lot of them were built to be cities." He explained. "Cities? Really?" She questioned. "Oh yeah, I've heard all kinds of stories about em." He replied. "Well..." She trailed off with her eyes shifting to the passage way behind him. "Let's hope this one isn't a city..." She muttered. "Agreed." Responded Farkas.


	33. Chapter 33

Farkas and Hope both walk through the ruin. Hope walks beside Farkas rather than behind him like before, she still didn't understand what was going on with the Companions and she still didn't know how she felt about it; But she did know that she could trust him, she could trust them. At least she hoped so...she prayed so...

Since they had continued their journey inside the ruin, they've come across more Silver Hand with more poisoned weapons. In the beginning Hope wasn't sure if she could bring herself to put down the group, but now that she knows what kind of awful poison they carry; She doesn't hesitate to put an arrow between their eyes when they get in range.

Remembering the feeling all to well that the poison caused and hearing what it can do to...people like Farkas, she felt that it was her duty to rid the world of the cruelties that the Silver Hand produced.

But maybe some of them weren't so bad, maybe some of them had a dark past that was their reason to hunt werewolves, maybe some of them felt like THEY were doing the world a favor by riding it of its beasts. Maybe they only saw monsters in the Companions instead of people who could prove their innocence and worthy of life...

Hope had to quickly shake those thoughts off, they couldn't afford her doubts or hesitation. The Silver Hand...those people were the enemy right now and they weren't going to have second thoughts or show any hesitation towards killing them. So it was important that Hope showed non towards them.

"You doing okay?" Farkas asked, slightly startling Hope and making her quickly look at him. "I'm." She stopped to clear her throat and look back forward. "I'm doing fine." She told him, but he didn't believe her. As they were walking Farkas could tell that she was lost in thought. He could see all sorts of emotions appear in her eyes and not to mention the twitching of her lips; Which usually happens when somebody is lost in thought like she was.

"You feel any more of the poisons effects?" He asked while they continued walking. "No, I think it's about left my system." She replied with her eyes remaining a head of them. She was watching the twists and turns of the tunnel like passage way carefully. Anything could come around them, or anyone.

Farkas stared at her for a moment longer, trying to study her eyes as they walked but all he could see was focus. So, he turned his attention back ahead of them because he too needed to focus. He didn't want another poison arrow landing in Hope's chest again, in fact he would rather take one himself than watch her go through that again.

Soon the twists and turns came to a stop and now what was in front of them was a large set of stairs. Hope let out a sigh as Farkas studied them closely. They were made of stone and only had a few chips and cracks in them. "Looks like they'll hold up." He said before taking the first step. When his heavy boot planted flat on the old stone stair, several cracks appeared beneath his foot.

Hope and Farkas's eyebrows both shot up as they watched the cracks continue to spread through out the step. "What happens if these stairs break?" She asked as she watched the cracking of the step stop at the walls. "Well...I don't think they're hollow underneath so best case scenario is that they'll crumble and we'll just fall." He replied.

"What's the worst case scenario?" She asked with her eyes going back up to him as well as an eyebrow raising. "The stairs collapse and cause the wall surrounding them to collapse as well and it depends on how far up we are if we'll be able to out run it or not..." He told her.

"Oh, is that all?" She replied with both eyebrows furrowing.

"Just because it's the worst thing that could happen doesn't mean it will happen, we'll never know unless we try. Come on." He said as he stepped up to another step and that one only crumbled away a little bit. A sigh left Hope as she hesitantly followed Farkas up the set of stairs. "If we can barely make it up these than how in Oblivion did the Silver Hand get so far..." She mumbled as she eyed each stair carefully every time she took a step.

They walk up several steps before coming to a sharp turn that had more stairs leading further up. Farkas walked up them without thought and Hope had no choice but to follow. _'First we go deep down under ground and now we go up...'_ She complained to herself as she walked up the stairs slowly with a hand planted on the wall closest to her.

When they reached the top, the two had their chest's heaving in and then out even though they were both trying to pretend they weren't tired. "Huh." Farkas said out loud with an exhaled breath of air following after. He was staring out in front of him and in front of him was an old, long stone bridge that stretched across a large hall-like area that seemed to go deeper into the ruin. Large bars stood at the edge of the bridge and stretched upwards, forming what looked like a large cage. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at the narrow bridge and rusty iron bars wondering if it was sturdy enough to hold them both.

"HIYAH!" A loud shout echoing through the halls below them made both of them jump. Hope's eyes widened as she quickly walked to the edge of the bridge and looked down. Farkas followed and was surprised to see that the shout came from a charging Silver Hand. "AAAH!" Another shout, but from a different Silver Hand this time. Then soon another one and then another one.

Now it was a whole group and they were charging downwards through the descending hall and it took Farkas and Hope a moment to realize just what they were charging towards. They followed the Silver Hand with their eyes and then soon saw a group of draugr's meet their blades. That's when they both realized that what they were staring down into was no hall, it was another crypt but this time it wasn't shaped into a maze. It only led downwards and Hope wasn't sure if she wanted to know where exactly it led to.

Farkas heard a deep, shaky sigh leave Hope as she continued to watch the fight down below them. "Don't worry." He said, causing her to look at him. "I bet by the time we get down there the two groups will wipe each other out, then we'll only have to deal with the stragglers left behind." He told her, hoping it would make her feel better.

"Or a bunch of draugr and Silver Hand..." She muttered while taking her eyes off him and turning them back to the fight below. Farkas turned and looked at Hope for a moment, studying her eyes and face. Then he turned his attention back to the enemies fighting and got an idea. "...Hey." He said, bringing Hope's eyes back to him.

"Think you can hit a couple of them from here?" He asked while continuing to watch the fight. Hope quickly lifted an eyebrow up at him and then looked down below. She stared at the ones fighting and then moved her eyes along the crypt below them and saw, just a few feet away an archer. "I can get that one.." She said, already picturing it in her head while she moved her eyes back to the ones fighting.

She saw a draugr behind the others moving side to side trying to get as many blows as it can. "I can get that one." She said with a finger pointing through the iron bars and downwards towards the said draugr. "Is there anymore you might be able to get?" He asked with his eyes moving to her.

"Hmm..." Hope hummed with her lips pursed together. She stared out at the targets and thought about it real good. "...I might be able to get that one." She said with her finger moving to one of the Silver Hand that had a two handed sword and was in front of the others, trying to take out as many draugr as he could. "I should probably go for the archer first...and then the brute...and then the draugr..." She thought out loud while continuing to stare down at the targets.

"Good enough for me." Farkas said, giving her a good pat on the shoulder. "I'll wait here, you go find a good spot to shoot from." He told her with a small, confident smile.

Hope nodded and then took out her bow while carefully and quietly walking along the narrow bridge, trying to find the perfect spot to shoot from. She decided to do it from the middle of the bridge and once she was in position she knelt down on one knee, knocked back an arrow, and then placed the arrow between two iron bars; aiming it directly at the archers head.

She took in a deep breath as her eyes moved from the shaft of the arrow to the archer. She pulled the arrow back farther and then for just a split second, held her breath before letting the steel arrow go.

She watched it fly through the air and when she did, she wasn't too sure if it would actually hit the arrow but as soon as her doubt surfaces a loud _**SPELCH**_ was heard, indicating that the arrow landed where she envisioned it to land. She watched the archers head ricochet back from the impact of the arrow and then saw him quickly fall limp to the ground with his bow loudly hitting the ground.

She saw some of the Silver Hand duck the moment her arrow landed in the head of the archer, which meant she needed to hurry with knocking back the next arrow. Because she knew it only took one to blow one's cover and to ruin one's plans. So with a second arrow already knocked back, she lets it go and watches it land in the brute Silver Hand's shoulder, causing him to yell out in pain. "Shit!" Hope cursed quietly as she quickly readied another arrow to shoot at him. But before she could release it, the draugr in front of him quickly took the opportunity and plunged its blade through his gut.

"Okay..." She muttered as she re-aimed her arrow for the draugr she targeted earlier. It was in a different spot so it took her a bit longer to release her arrow, but soon after she did the arrow landed in the back of its skull causing it to quickly fall to the ground. She was surprised to see that but only because last time she shot a draugr in the head, it didn't immediately die.

"Alright, let's go!" Farkas said in a hushed voice as he hurried past her. Hope quickly placed her bow back in its place while she followed after Farkas.

They made their way across the bridge quickly, but also quietly. They knew whoever was left alive when they reached them would be expecting someone, so they needed to try and take them by surprise the best they could.

Eventually the bridge led to the beginning of the descending crypt and the floor they walked down was so steep that they had to walk with a hand planted on the wall or else they might lose their footing and fall.

As they walked down the steep flooring, Hope tried looking around as much as she could to try and get a sense of their surroundings. The crypt around them had several draugr's buried in the walls, but they didn't look like the ones that walked around. They actually looked dead and looked like they weren't going to get up and move around any time soon. Still though, even if they didn't move around it still made Hope uncomfortable being around so many corpses.

"Watch out." Farkas said, bringing Hope's attention to him. He came to a stop and pointed downwards toward a slain draugr. "Silver Hand must of got it on their way through." Hope pointed out as she continued to stare down at it. "Doesn't mean their isn't more nearby, just keep your guard up." He told her while continuing to walk down the descending floor. "Right..." Hope replied as she slowly followed after him.

Like Farkas said, they came across more draugr but just like the first one, they were already slain. They both would eye them carefully when they passed by them, just to make sure that they were really dead and not just knocked down. Lucky for them, they stayed down and showed no signs of getting back up.

Hope couldn't help but feel slightly relieved by that, they already had enough to deal with so their being less draugr..made things better.

That relief soon vanished when they came apon the spot they viewed from the bridge that was now above them. In that spot was the same group of draugr (minus one). They both came to a quick stop and looked down, at the draugrs feet were the Silver Hand they saw fighting just a bit ago. The group of draugr seemed to have had no problems with taking them out.

A low growl left one as it turned around to face Farkas and Hope. Once it began to turn around, the others around it followed its lead and then soon, all eyes were on them. "Get ready." Farkas quickly spoke as he got out his great-sword. Hope already had her bow out with an arrow ready, the moment she saw the draugr moving to look at them is when she decided was a good time to grab it.

"Remember, go for the weak spots. Try and take them down to the ground if you can with your arrows and I'll finish them off." He told her while watching the draugr get their own weapons ready. "Right!" Hope replied in a panic as she watched the draugr charge soon after Farkas spoke.

 _ **CLANG!**_ The sound of blades meeting echoed all around them the moment Farkas blocked a blow from a single draugr. It made Hope's ears ring and cause a sharp pain go right through her head, but she ignored it. She had to ignore it and focus on doing what she could to keep them from harming Farkas.

Movement from the side causes Hope's eyes to shift, she sees one of the draugr making a bold move by charging from the side. It would be a smart move if Hope wasn't an archer, and unfortunately for the draugr, she was one. Before it's blade could even attempt to swing in Farkas's direction, Hope had an arrow pulled back and then released.

She watched the arrow fly through the air for a split second and then suddenly stick out of the draugr's knee cap. The draugr let out a frustrated growl as it fell hard to the ground. Farkas felt dust move around his feet the moment the draugr's heavy body came into contact with the floor. So he bashed his great-sword against the single draugr in front of him, sending it stumbling back. He then takes the small opportunity and slams his blade down on the back of the skull on the fallen draugr.

Farkas ducks down enough for Hope to shoot an arrow out at the draugr that Farkas sent reeling back just moments ago. She doesn't waste time and quickly gets another arrow knocked back. Just as the draugr was regaining itself, she releases the arrow and watches it land in the draugr's deep eye socket.

It's head ricocheted back from the impact of the arrow, it opened it's mouth wide and let out a painful shriek that made Hope wince. Once he heard the loud shriek from the draugr, he quickly stood back up straight and swung his sword from the side hard, cutting its head off with one swing.

Hope's eyes widened as her jaw fell open when she watched the head of the corpse get hacked off. It was strange, you would expect to see a horrible mess of blood, but there was non. The head just went flying once it was dislocated from its body and only dust and old bones came from the impact.

"Look out!" Farkas yelled. Hope blinked and then looked at him, seeing that he was looking at her with wide, panicked eyes. At that moment, she felt the need to duck and so she did.

It was a good thing she did, because the moment she moved down out of the way was the moment a draugr's battle axe came swinging. The draugr's balance was thrown off a bit, causing it to stumble over to the side. Hope quickly took the opportunity to look back and kick a leg out, hitting the lower part of its leg.

She heard an awful crack come from the draugr's brittle bones and then watched it fall to the ground. She quickly scrambled away from the corpse and then stood back up straight with her bow and an arrow ready for it. The draugr looked up at her and the moment its eyes met hers, she released her arrow. It landed right between the eyes and surprisingly did the job because she watched the draugr's head ricoche back and then suddenly go limp, making the rest of its body hit the floor.

"AGH!" She heard Farkas cry out. She quickly spun around and saw that he had been pushed up against a wall. He had his sword held up and on the other side of it was a draugr, furiously slamming its own sword into his. Hope quickly pulled out another arrow and shot it out at the draugr.

The arrow landed in the side of its neck, causing it to lose a little bit of its balance. With out wasting time, Farkas quickly slammed his sword into the draugr, forcing it to stumble away from him. Then with one hard swing, he cuts into the draugr's side with his great-sword. The force was so great that Hope thought his sword was going to cut the draugr's torso in half, but it didn't. It barely made it half-way through the torso before coming to a quick stop.

The draugr falls limp to the floor and takes Farkas down right with it. Farkas lets out an "Oof!" When he lands on top of the draugr. "You okay!?" Hope asked while quickly rushing over to him. "Yeah..." Farkas replied as he let go of his sword and stood back up on his feet. He dusted his hands off while staring down at his sword, that was now stuck in a corpse. "That's all of them right?" Farkas asked with his eyes quickly looking around them.

"I think so, I'd imagine that we would of been attacked by now if there were any left." Hope replied with her own eyes looking around.

"Good point." Farkas sighed out in exhaustion. He looked back down at his sword and then looked at the draugr it was stuck in. "Hmm.." He hummed with a contempt expression on his face. "Is it stuck?" She asked with her eyes going back to him. "I think so..." He muttered before bending over to take a hold of his sword.

Hope watched him plant a foot on the torso of the draugr and then pull on his sword with all of his might. His face turned a light shade of red while he struggled getting his sword unstuck.

It was strange watching him struggle like that. She had watched him slide his sword into the corpse's body with ease and now he could barely get it to move an inch out. Maybe it was the adrenaline, she didn't know. What she did know was that they couldn't finish this job with her bow alone, he needed his sword, no, SHE needed his sword.

"Do you need any help?" She asked while taking a step towards him. "No I got it." He quickly replied with a strained voice. Her eyebrows knit-together as she watched frustration fill his eyes and heard a groan escape from him.

"I...think I..." Suddenly his sword comes out and it does so, so suddenly that it sends him stumbling back, making him nearly fall over. He was able to stop himself and regain his balance. "There." He sighed out in relief as he examined his sword closely, making sure that no damage was done to it.

Hope too sighed the moment he did. She probably felt more relieved than he did when he got his sword unstuck. "Alright." Farkas sighed again as he slid his great-sword into its large sheath tied to his back. He then turned around to face the ongoing passage before them. "Let's continue." He said before continuing to walk with Hope soon following after him.

They both continue down into the crypt that soon turns into just a large passageway. It goes on for a little ways but then comes to a stop at a large doorway. Farkas pulls the doors open and before them is a large room with a wooden ramp leading down into it.

Farkas steps in first and looks around, Hope waits a moment and then follows him in. "There's nobody in here?" She questioned when she stopped by his side and started to look around. "Doesn't look like it." He replied as he started to walk down the wooden ramp. Hope followed him with her eyes moving around the large room. It was too scattered with junk to be able to tell what it used to be.

"The draugr must of wiped out what was left of the Silver Hand." Farkas said as he stopped in the middle of the room and looked around some more. Instead of following him, Hope stopped at a wooden door that was only a few feet away from the wooden ramp. She stared at it for a moment and then grabbed its handle. She tried pulling it open, but it was locked tight.

"Huh..." She breathed out while letting go of the door handle. "It's locked?" Farkas asked as he walked over to where she was. "Yeah.." She replied. "Know how to pick locks?" He asked again.

"Hah, no." She laughed out, not taking his question seriously at first. "It's a good skill to have." Said Farkas. "When we get back to Jorrvaskr, maybe I can teach you." He said with his hand giving her shoulder a quick pat before walking away.

"You know how to lock-pick?" Hope asked with her eyes following Farkas as well as an eyebrow raising. "It's not hard to learn and like I said, it's a good skill to have. Especially if you get locked behind a door somewhere." He replied.

Hope watched him walk to another wooden door that was on the other side of the room for a moment and then joined him. He pushed the door open and before them was a large chamber with a few coffins pushed up against the walls. They both entered the chamber together and looked around carefully. "Looks like some kind of old buriel chamber." Farkas said as he started to walk around the room.

Hope watched him for a moment and then started to walk around herself. While keeping her distance, she walked by the coffins and studied the old metal they were made from. On the very edges of them were old worn out carvings, she tried to make out what they were but they were just too old.

"Hey." Farkas's voice from across the room startles Hope and makes her jump. She quickly turns and sees him standing in front of another door. "This door is locked, look around for a key." He told her. "I thought you could pick locks?" Hope questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I can but I don't have any lock-picks on me right now, so look around and hope we can find a key." He told her again. "What if we can't fine one?" She asked while beginning to look around. "This is a large room, all sorts of places to hide a key." He said. "Besides, Skjor always says that to every door there is a key."

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down in response as she knelt over and looked underneath a metal table. "Sometimes he's wrong though..." She hears him mutter. She can't help but roll her eyes while she stands back up and walks to a different part of the room.

She walks by a couple of metal shelves and a few more coffins before she comes across a large chest that sat on top of a table. She approached it and examined it closely. She'd never seen such a chest before and the carvings on its iron edges intrigued her. She ran her fingers over them before placing both hands on the top of the chest and lifting it open.

It was heavy and she struggled, but in the end she was able to get it fully open. She stands up on her tip-toes and peers down in the large chest. It looked to be mostly filled with old parchment and linen wrap. She stuck her arm in and started to dig through all of the junk. It was so cluttered that she ended up having to just pick up large amounts of parchment and throwing them out of the chest.

"Find anything?" Farkas asked while watching from near the door. He moved his eyes down to her legs and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her standing like that. The chest was so large and the table was so tall, she nearly looked like a child trying to sneak treats out of a bowl.

"Maybe...I don't..." She strained while continuing to dig through the deep chest. After digging through nothing but junk, her hand finally comes to a stop on something different. "Oh, wait." She said after quickly grabbing it.

She went back to standing flat on her feet as she pulled out something wrapped in old cloth that was tied with small rope. She untied it and opened the old cloth, her eyebrows shot up. "What is it?" Farkas asked, remaining on the other side of the room. "A key." She answered while holding it up.

"Told you there would be one." Farkas said with a small grin spreading on his face. "Like you knew..." She muttered before quickly making her way over to him. When she reached him she handed him the key and then watched him slide it into the doors key hole.

The key turned with ease and afterwords they both heard a delightful _**click**_ come from the door. Farkas pulls the door open and immediately steps through it with Hope right behind him. The door only led to a small room with an old iron table with empty bottles scattered all over it.

Next to the table was another door. "Will we ever reach the end?" Hope sighed as she continued to follow Farkas. He opened the second door and it led to an old hallway that had yet, another door at the end of it. "Some of these old ruins can be like mazes." He told her while walking through the hall towards the other door.

Hope followed him to the door but he suddenly stops. She looks at him with a lifted eyebrow and can see unease fill his eyes. "What is it?" She asked, becoming a bit uneasy herself.

Farkas didn't answer, he just kept staring down at the door knob with his jaw tightening. "Is it more draugr? Silver Hand?" She asked in a hushed whisper. "No..." Farkas sighed as he brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him in response, waiting for an explanation.

"Have you..." He started but had to stop to take in a deep breath. "Have you ever come across frostbite spiders?" He asked while removing his hand from his face. "No..I've read about them though." She answered.

"Well...they're a lot worse in life than in books." He mumbled. Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him. "Is there...some behind the door?" She asked.

"Yeah." He answered with a nod. "Do you know how many? Can you make that out by their scent?" She asked. "No...but there's never just one." He said with a sigh escaping past his lips.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him, studying his face and watching the color fade from it. Was he...was he scared? Did he not like spiders? _'How silly!'_ She can't help but think as she stares at the "mighty" warrior in front of her.

Farkas stood there in silence for a moment longer, then with a heavy sigh leaving him he stands up straight and quickly opens the door. "Alright lets go." He said while quickly rushing through the small passage behind the door. Hope quickly follows after him.

The small passageway was littered with large webs, Farkas was walking so fast that Hope had no time to dodge the thick webs. She had no choice but to go through them and pull them off along the way. "Here we go!" She hears Farkas yell from a ways in front of her.

She quickly looks a head and sees a large room at the end of the passage. Farkas was already in it and swinging his great-sword at a large frostbite spider. Hope couldn't help but shiver when she saw it, her eyes immediately went to its eyes and then down to its large poison dripping fangs. Now she understood why Farkas feared them so much.

"HIYA!" Farkas yelled as he plunged his blade into the spider before him. He was so focused on not focusing on the fact that they were spiders, that he had no idea that two more large frostbite spiders were coming at him from the side.

Hope quickly rushed into the room with her bow out and an arrow already knocked back. Before one could lung at Farkas, she quickly released her arrow and watched it land in the side of its head. The spider let out a loud screech as it fell dead to the ground. _'Well at least their easy to kill.'_ She thought to herself while getting another arrow ready. But before she could get the chance to release it, Farkas had already plunged his blade into the spider.

Her eyebrows shot up as she watched him pull his blade out and then let out some shaky breaths. "Is..is that all of them?" She asked. Farkas quickly looked up and looked around in what looked like a panic. Then relief filled his eyes and a deep sigh escaped him. "Yeah...that's all of them." He sighed in relief again.

His ears twitched when he heard a covered up snicker come from Hope. He quickly looks at her and furrows his eyebrows down when he saw her covering her mouth with both hands. Embarrassed and grumpy grumbles leave him as he turns away from her and heads for the door on the other side of the room. "Come on." He mumbled.

Hope had to bite her lip to keep any more laughter from escaping her before following after him.

They walked through another small tunnel-like passage until they reached yet, another door. But this door was different, this one was tall and wide. It was made of steel instead of iron and it had carvings on it that would never fade away. "I think we're near the end." Farkas said as he stared up at the door. "What makes you so sure?" Hope asked.

"Just a feeling." He replied as he placed both hands on the large doors and pushed them open. It only took a little push from Farkas, soon after he puts his weight on the large set of doors, they open themselves.

They both watched the doors fall open and then come to a slow stop. "Well, alright then." Farkas said while clearing his throat. He stepped through the door way, but Hope didn't. She stayed behind and stared out at what she could see through the partly opened doors.

She wasn't sure why, but something didn't feel right. She could feel it in her chest, in her heart. She clenched her jaw tightly while slowly bringing her hand up to her mothers necklace. She held it tight in her hand as she continued to stare out into the large room in front of her.

"You coming?" Farkas asked from the other room. Hope let out a shaky sigh as she hesitantly stepped through the door way. A gasp left her the moment she saw what laid behind those large doors.

Behind them was a very large room, it had nothing but coffins lined up on the walls and laying on the ground in straight lines; and that wasn't all. On the very far side of the room was a strange, large structure. It had an odd shape to it and it wasn't attached to a wall, it was just a wall itself, standing alone.

Hope's eyes focused on it and only on it. Soon everything else in the room became a blur, without even knowing it she had started walking, started approaching the strange wall. Something on it or perhaps in it was calling her, luring her over to it. "Hope?" She heard him, but just barely. His voice was faded and nothing but a distant echo.

She doesn't know when it had happened, but she was now standing in front of the wall and what she heard calling to her before; was as loud and almost sounded like a chant...maybe a song? She didn't know, she's never heard of anything like it before. "Hope?" Farkas called to her again but it was drowned out.

"Do you..." She speaks, her own voice being drowned out. "Do you hear that?"

Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down as he stood behind her and watched her. He watched her slowly place a hand on the ancient wall and trace one of the carvings with her index finger. "Hear what?" Farkas asked as he continued to watch her, but she didn't answer. Her focus was on the carving right in front of her face, the one that her hand wouldn't leave.

Soon what she was hearing before becomes so loud that it sends an intense pain through her head. White flashes start to appear before her eyes and she has to close them to make it stop. She pinches the bridge of her nose as she tightly clenches her eyes shut, the white flashes have stopped but now something else was flashing behind her eye lids. Pictures? No, words. Strange words she's never seen before. Each one goes by too fast, she can't make any of them out.

Then suddenly, they stop and only one can be made out. One that burned so bright that she felt like her very skin was set on fire. _'Yol.'_ It read, and she repeated it in a whisper. "Yol..."

"What?" Farkas asked with his eyebrows furrowed. Hope's eyes quickly open and move to Farkas, she saw that he was more confused than she was. "What?" Hope questioned with her own eyebrows furrowing. Farkas blinked at her as more confusion flooded his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern showing in his voice. Hope stared at him for a moment, still trying to figure out what just happened. "Um.." She blinked. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked.

"You were acting strange, you still are." He told her.

"I am?" She asked with her eyebrows remaining furrowed. Everything that just happened, even the word that she heard spoke in her ears, slowly faded from her. Leaving her to be nothing but a confused mess with a strange feeling stirring inside her chest. Hope blinked while slowly moving her head back to the wall she had her hand resting on.

She furrowed her eyebrows again as she examined the strange markings carved all over it. "What's this?" She asked. "I don't know, it's just something that I've often seen in ruins like this." He told her with a shrug.

"Oh..." She responded quietly as she continued to stare at the large wall before her. Farkas watched her for a moment longer before turning away and looking at a strange alter that was just a foot away from the large wall. On it was a stand and on that stand, was the piece of wuuthrad that they had been searching for. "Thank the gods." He sighed.

Hope heard him and turned to see what he was talking about. She watched him walk over to the alter and point to the small piece of steel. "This is what we're here for." He told her. "Oh, finally." She sighed as she removed her hand from the wall and joined Farkas's side. Whatever had just happened to her was now forgotten and the wall was now the last thing on her mind, she was just ready to leave now.

Farkas reached over the alter and carefully picked up the piece of wuuthrad. The moment it left the stand it was on, they both heard a small _**click.**_

"What was that?" Hope asked with her eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide. "I don't-" _**SLAM!**_ The loud echoing sound cut Farkas off and made them both jump.

Hope felt every muscle in her body tense when they both heard a familiar growl. They slowly turn around and just like they thought, a draugr had just stepped out of its coffin and it already had its sword ready.

 _ **SLAM!**_ Another one opens, making them both jump again. It was the coffin next to the first one that opened and it too had a draugr step out of it. Suddenly, another one across from the first two and then another one above them and then another one beside them. All had draugr's step out of them and all of them had their weapons ready for a slaughter. _'Oh gods.'_


	34. Chapter 34

"Farkas..." Hope's eyes were wide with fear as she said his name with panic rising in the back of her throat. He didn't reply, he only watched the massive horde of draugr surround them while he got out his great-sword. "Farkas!" Hope said his name again, this time in more of a shout. "Just stay behind me!" He finally replied.

What?! How was she supposed to "stay behind him"? They were both completely surrounded, even she knew that if they stayed close together like this that the draugr would eventually corner them and then take them out. No, they needed to separate, they both needed to go on both far sides of the room to split the draugr in half. In order to have any chance to survive this, that was exactly what they needed to do.

So, after taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Hope took out her bow as well as an arrow. "I don't think it's going to work." She said in the calmest voice she could muster.

Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down and turned to look at her with confusion showing in his eyes. "What?" He questioned.

"We're not going to be able to deal with all of these draugr like this if we stick to each others side. We need to split up so that the draugr split up." She hurriedly explained. The draugr were quickly closing in on them, if they wasted any more time standing around like they were, they were both soon to be completely surrounded by the army of draugr and any attempt at doing her plan would only be in vain. Because though the draugr were brittle and weak; they were also many and their weapons would fall upon them like a storm of sharp steel.

Farkas stared at her for a moment, with his eyes wide. He thought her plan through and knew immediately that she was right, but he didn't like it. He didn't like the thought of separating from her and the chances of her being killed right in front of him increasing. But despite his feelings, had no choice but to go through with her plan. She was a warrior, soon to be fully acknowledged as a Companion. He needed to trust her, he needed to give her a chance and that couldn't happen if he hovered over her and told her what to do every step of the way.

"Okay." He breathed. Hope turned and looked at him, slightly surprised by how easy he gave in. When her eyes fell on him, he gave her a smile and then a confident nod. He wanted her to see that he believed in her, that he trusted her. She gave him a smile and nod in return.

With nothing else needing to be said, they both turn and watch the draugr approach them for a moment, and then without warning; they both quickly bolt to the side and immediately run to far sides of the room. Both being exactly across from each other.

The army of draugr looked puzzled at first but then quickly split in odd numbers to chase after them both (just like Hope thought they would). She smiled at the small victory but that smile soon disappeared after she saw half of the horde running straight towards her. _'Okay, you can do this.'_

She breathed in and then slowly breathed out. She lifted her bow and slowly knocked back her arrow. She watched half of the horde run towards her and for a moment, it looked and felt like everything had slowed down. The horde running for her were moving in slow motion and every time she took a breath she felt like time itself would pause for just that moment.

She slowly moved her eyes down and watched the legs of the draugr's in front move, she watched every step land flat on the ground. But one leg that belonged to the draugr in the very front, seemed off. She moved her eyes up to its knees and watched part of its right leg bone stick out of its thin rotting skin every time it planted its foot down on the floor. _'There.'_

She released her arrow and watched it fly low in the air. The arrow landed in the gap between the draugr's knee and leg bone. The moment the arrow landed, the draugr fell, causing many other draugr behind it to trip and fall right along with it.

A small smile curved across Hope's lips as she pulled back another arrow and aimed it for the closest draugr that was still able to run towards her. She released her arrow and hit that draugr on its upper leg. There she saw a gash that showed its decaying muscles. The moment that arrow landed in that draugr, it fell to the ground; tripping others behind it. If she could just bring enough of them down with her arrows, she just might be able to take the rest of them out with her blade because she knew that it usually took more than one arrow to fully put a draugr down.

So she continues to knock back arrows and release them with speed. She watches some miss her targets and some hit them. Either way, she didn't stop and she wasn't going to stop until she was pleased with the amount of corpses she took down to the ground. One arrow even landed in the eye socket of one of the draugrs and killed it instantly. _'There goes one.'_ She thought to herself as she continued to release arrows at the hord of corpses.

After being content with how many draugrs she took down or slowed down, Hope dropped her bow to the ground and quickly took out her sword. She charged for the one closest to her, the moment she was in arms reach of it, she had to duck to avoid the draugr's swinging axe. Right after she ducked, she hit the draugr's brittle knee with her sword. That sent it stumbling forward and while it did so, she quickly got back up and charged for the next one.

This time blades met, she held hers up fast so that it would meet the second draugr's blade. _**CLANG, CLING!**_ The sound from their blades hitting echoed through out the large chamber and for a moment she couldn't tell if it was coming from her or Farkas, because he too was meeting blades with a couple of draugr.

Farkas had already taken out three draugr with his great-sword. Now he was backed up to a corner with two draugr hitting his sword as hard as they could. Farkas gritted his teeth together as he held against the draugr's blows and stayed his ground. No way would he be taken out by a few rotting corpses.

Occasionally he would look up over the horde before him and try to get a look at Hope. He was surprised every time his eyes fell on her because each time she was facing a different dragur. She may have not been killing them off completely, but she was slowing them down and even taking some of them to the ground.

It was impressive, especially when he saw her duck forward to dodge an attack from a draugr behind her. When he saw that draugr's blade meet the chest of the one that was attacking the front of her, rallied up butterflies in the pit of his stomach.

The draugr that took the blow from the one that was behind her quickly fell limp to the ground. One more that she no longer has to deal with. As soon as the draugr pulled it's blade out of its fellow corpse, she quickly sprung up and stabbed her own blade into the chest of that draugr. It let out a dying gurgle before falling back off of her blade and onto the ground.

She let out a puff of air before turning back around to most likely meet more blades that belonged to the dead. She was surprised to see that only one was left standing and it looked less than pleased about that. It stood behind all of its fallen comrades and glared at her as it tightened its grip on its two-handed battle axe.

The ones stuck on the ground, growled and hissed at her. Almost as if they were trying to rally up the last one standing. Hope took a few steps back and pointed the tip of her blade right at the last draugr. It noticed her movement and let out its own growl and hiss. "Come on then..." She whispered as she readied herself. She expected it to charge soon, and it did.

She watched it jump over the fallen draugr and when it reached the last one she had killed, it lept high in the air and while in mid air, swung its battle axe down hard on Hope's sword.

The impact from its giant weapon against her small sword caused her arms to ricochet back towards her. She stumbled back from the massive blow and nearly dropped her sword in the process. Her arms immediately ached and she groaned when she had to hold her sword up once again to defend herself from another coming blow.

"Ah!" He heard Hope cry. He immediately reacted by quickly looking up, nearly forgetting the few draugr that were left in front of him. His eyes widened when he saw Hope backed up to the now shut door they had entered through. She was holding up her sword, blocking attacks that were coming from a brute of a draugr.

The draugr was relentless and every time its battle axe came into contact with Hope's sword, Farkas winced. He could see the pain and weariness in her eyes, she wasn't going to be able to hold up against it any longer. He needed to hurry and get over there to help her.

He quickly looked to the draugr in front of him and saw an opportunity. One that was rare and seemed like a gift from the gods at the moment.

There were only three draugr left for Farkas to kill and two of them were coming at him in a straight line, while the third stayed back and shot arrows. A half smile formed on his face as he tightened his grip and waited for the two charging draugr to get closer.

As soon as they were finished running over the slain draugr, Farkas charged with is great-sword pointed forward and plunged it into the two draugr easily. It went through the first one quickly, stopping it short and causing the second one to fall onto the part of his blade that was sticking out of the back of the first one.

He pulled his blade out and watched them both hit the hard floor with a loud _**THUD**_. Then afterwords, he quickly looked up at the last draugr, and it looked shocked. Its hand had paused in the middle of grabbing an arrow while the other hand that held its bow was just about to drop it. He couldn't help but chuckle as he neared the draugr to end it.

"ERRGH!" Hope cried as she was now on the ground with her blade held up above her head to keep the draugr's battle-axe from taking it off. The draugr was getting frustrated, but it saw cracks begin to form on the flat of Hope's blade. So it took a good step back and then raised its battle-axe high in the air. Just one more good swing and her sword will break, she will no longer have anything to protect her.

Hope tightly shuts her eyes and clenches her teeth down together, she prepares herself for the next blow and just possibly, the end of her life.

"Hey!" Farkas's loud voice made her jump and open her eyes to look at him, his voice also caused the draugr to lower its battle-axe and turn part-ways towards him. When the draugr's eyes met his, he was surprised but only by how large it was.

It was much larger than the rest of them and it wore different armor. He hadn't noticed earlier and Hope was too busy taking blows to notice.

He squints his eyes at the large draugr as it aims a low growl right at him. He's never seen one like that draugr before and that bothered him. Another low growl came from the draugr, forcing Farkas to focus on it and to put away any thoughts he was having. It didn't matter if this one looked a bit different, what mattered was taking it down and making it out of there alive with Hope right by him.

Hope slowly got up off the ground with her arms shaking at her sides. They were so wore out from blocking the massive draugr's attacks that she felt like they could fall off any moment. She looked down at her blade and saw cracks spider-webbing through out it, she knew it wasn't going to last another blow, so she needed to try and make it to her bow and shoot what remainder of arrows she had at the draugr.

Farkas felt eyes on him, when he shifted his eyes to look beyond the draugr, it was Hope's whose eyes were on him. She stared at him deeply and then pointed her eyes down to the ground. Farkas followed them and saw just a few feet away from her and practically right beside the draugr, was her bow. She wanted him to lure the draugr away so that she could grab it.

"You should fight someone your own size." He said with his great-sword pointing at the draugr. The draugr glared at him, but didn't move. _'Well that doesn't make any sense...'_ He thought to himself. The draugr was keen on getting to Hope but when it came to Farkas, it wouldn't budge.

Hope had started to become impatient as she watched Farkas and the draugr have a major glaring contest. _'Okay, I'm done waiting.'_ She decided as she tightened her grip on her sword.

She waited a bit longer before suddenly charging at the draugr, if she could just stab it in the right spot she could take it out before her sword breaks. Farkas's eyes widen when he sees Hope take off running straight towards the massive draugr.

The draugr had no idea what was happening until Hope plunged her blade through its back. Hope kept a hold on her blade as she watched the back of the draugr's head with wide eyes. She expected it to fall limp at any moment, but it didn't.

Only a low growl was heard from it as it slowly turned its head to peer at her from over its shoulder. Her heart sped up in her chest as she tried to pull her sword out but it was stuck tight. The draugr moved to turn and face her. When it did, she lost grip on her sword and could only hopelessly stare up at it when it was fully looking down at her.

She felt very small at that moment and very vulnerable. She took a step back away from it and while doing so, the draugr's chest rose up as it inhaled a big breath of air.

Farkas's eyes widened as he immediately charged for the draugr. "Get down!" He shouted. "W-what?" Hope quickly turned her head to look at him and that's when. "FUS-"

"GET DOWN NOW!"

Everything began to slow down in that moment. Hope first watched the draugr's chest rise and then watched Farkas run to her with panic spilling from his eyes. Before she could do anything, something hit her.

A wall, made of nothing but force and wind hit so hard it sent her flying back and then slamming against the giant steel set of doors that were behind her.

She cried out in pain when her body came into contact with the hard steel doors and then once she landed on the ground she could do nothing but gasp for air that was stolen from her. "Hope!" She heard Farkas call to her, but his voice was nothing but a muffle. A lound ring was all she could really hear and for a moment, she thought she just might've gone deaf.

" _ **Mindok Kruziik Al Alok!**_ " The draugr shouted as it raised its battle-axe high in the air, right above Hope. She stayed down on the ground with both hands covering her ears, she didn't know why but for some reason she thought it would make the loud ringing go away. It didn't.

The draugr tightened its grip on its weapon and then began to swing it down hard, but before it could get far, a large great-sword had been plunged into its chest. It's battle-axe stops mid-air as it slowly looks down at the point of Farkas's blade. Then with nothing but a dying growl escaping it, it goes limp and drops dead to the ground.

Farkas pulled his sword out of the now fallen corpse and then ran straight to Hope. He wrapped an arm behind her and sat her up to get a good look at her. A trail of blood left her nose and her mouth while her eyes looked like they were in a daze. "Hope?"

She didn't reply. She only continued to stare out at the distance with her eyes blinking a few at a time. The loud ringing in her ears started to slowly fade. Finally after a good while, she turns to look at Farkas and blinks up at him with panic and confusion filling her eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he kept a hold on her. She blinked again before replying. "No." She said plainly. "I..I don't think I am..."

Farkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her as he watched her move away from him and then stand up on wobbly feet. He quickly got to his feet and held out a hand in case she needed something to lean on.

Hope slowly bent over with her hands resting on her stomach. She slowly closed her eyes while the skin on her face lost its color. She didn't know why, but whatever had just hit her left her feeling sick. The ringing in her ears was gone and she could breath again, but now she felt like the beginning of it wasn't the worst of it.

"Hope?" She heard Farkas take a few steps towards her. "What..." She started but couldn't finish her sentence. She feared that she would be sick at the end of it. "I don't know what that was." He answered her, already knowing what she was going to ask.

"I've only come across that type of draugr a couple of times." He told her. He watched her inhale slowly and then exhale deeply. "Did it ever make you feel like this?" She asked in a low voice. "No. It never made me sick like that." He replied. "Wonderful..." She muttered.

After giving Hope a moment to re-cooperate the best she could, they both first tried to leave through the door they came in from. But it was locked tight, so they had to look around for another way out. "There's always some sort of secret passage out of these old ruins." Is what Farkas had told her, but she found that hard to believe due to the fact that the chamber they were in, was the last one.

They searched around for secret levers, floor panels and even chains on the wall. But they found nothing. Farkas walked up a wooden ramp that led to a second floor of the chamber. "Aha!" Hope heard him cheer. "What?" She asked while rushing up the wooden ramp.

When she reached the top she saw him looking through a coffin that was attached to the wall. Behind it lay a large open passage way that seemed to lead upwards. "Well I'll be damned..." Hope muttered as she stared into the large passage with wide eyes. "Told ya." Farkas gloated with a smirk on his face while stepping through the tight coffin. Hope only rolled her eyes in response and then stepped through after him.

"Vilkas!" Aela shouted, for the third time. "Huh?" Vilkas blinked as he sat up in his chair and looked at her. He furrowed his eyebrows down at her, confused to why she had suddenly yelled at him. He hadn't known it, but she had been saying his name for a few minutes now. "Pay attention ice brain! I've been trying to get your attention for an eternity now!" She told him.

"Oh..." He replied with his eyes going down towards the table. "Maybe you should speak up next time then." He said. Aela quickly scoffed as she stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips. She examined him for a moment before a small smile curved up on her face. "Something on your mind?" She asked with her smile turning mischievous.

"No." Vilkas quickly answered with his eyes going back up at her. "I guess I should've asked if **someone** was on your mind." She snickered. Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at her and then looked back away. "I don't know what you're talking about. Go bother someone else." He told her with a scowl.

"Hmph." Aela exclaimed, although she still had a smirk on her face. "Worried about our young Hope?" Now it was Kodlak asking. He was sitting right next to Vilkas, enjoying a plate full of food. Vilkas turned and looked at him, not knowing when he had sat down there.

He then turned his head away with his eyes going back down towards the table. "No, why would I be worried?" He questioned with another annoyed scowl. Kodlak couldn't help but chuckle as he took a drink out of his mug that was filled with fresh mead.

"I'd guess because it's been a day since they left." Aela stated with a shrug. She saw a muscle under Vilkas's eye twitch before he grabbed at his own mug and took a big swig out of it. "Don't fret lad." Kodlak told him while giving him a hard pat to the back, which made him nearly choke on his mead.

Vilkas quickly covered his mouth and coughed into it. The feeling of mead going down the wrong pipe was almost as bad as swallowing water down the wrong way. Though it sounded like Vilkas was choking on a frog, Kodlak continued to speak. "You know as well as I do that those old ruins can go on for days."

A couple more coughs left Vilkas before he settled back in his chair and cleared his throat. _'That's what I'm worried about.'_ He thought to himself with a sigh leaving him. _'The bigger the ruin is the more enemies you'll most likely encounter.'_

"I don't think that ruin will go on past a day though." Aela said, causing Vilkas's eyes to shift to the side to look at her. "I've never been inside of it, but I have scouted the outside of it. It looked like it ran deep in the earth, but not by very much from the way the area looked around it."

"So that means they could be heading back now." Kodlak said with a nod. Relief fills Vilkas, he doesn't know if they really were on their way back but the thought of them...the thought of Hope walking down the stone road with Farkas made him feel better.

"Best have someone sit outside then." Skjor cuts in. He was sitting at the table to the left and was ignoring what they were saying until now. They all turn to look at him. "Send Torvrar, he can come tell us when he sees them enter the city. Then we'll have Vilkas await them outside of Jorrvaskr." He said.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down and questioned him. "Why? What's the point of all that?"

"So that we have time to get ready before they reach Jorrvaskr." Skjor replied. "Ready for what?" Vilkas questioned.

"Our ceremony." Kodlak answered with a smile.

Vilkas moved his eyes to him and stared at him for a moment before finally realizing what they were talking about. "You mean when we fully accept someone into the Companions?" He asked a little too eagerly.

"Don't get too excited yet." Skjor said with his usual grumpy frown. "Just because we're having it doesn't mean she's automatically going to be apart of us."

"That's right." Nodded Aela. "Whether she fully becomes one of us or not, will be determined by Farkas."

 _'Right...'_ Vilkas shifted around in his seat to try and get a little more comfortable. He had no idea how long he had been sitting down at the table, but by how sore his bottom was becoming he guessed it'd been a while.

He could feel their eyes on him, so to hide his face he grabs his mug and takes another big drink out of it. Skjor told him not to get excited and he showed no excitement on his face or with his body. He was feeling something though, on the inside. He didn't know if it was excitement or not, but he did know that by this night, he'll be accepting Hope as one of them. He just had a good feeling about it.

The sun had began to set and it was now well past Dragons Reach's high roof. Farkas and Hope both could now see it in the distance. "Finally..." Sighed Hope as she relished the sight of the now familiar city. "You said it." Farkas also sighed.

He and Hope were both sore all over and everything on them ached. Since they had started walking down the stone road from the ruin, Farkas would occasionally look over and every time he did he felt like a new bruise would start to appear on Hope's arms. He could only imagine how they felt, especially after the beating she took from that last draugr.

"How are you feeling?" He asked all of a sudden. Hope quickly looked at him with a couple of blinks following after. It looked like he had just interrupted her from some deep thinking. "Oh, I'm okay." She said with a small smile.

"You sure?" He asked again with his eyebrows knitting together. "You still look a little ashy."

"I guess I still feel a little nauseous..." She admitted with her eyes slowly moving down towards the ground.

"Do we need to stop and take a break?" Farkas asked.

"No! Definitely not." She chuckled. "I'm just ready to get back." She sighed.

Farkas nodded in response, understanding how she felt. "I am too. We'll be home before it gets completely dark."

"Hope so..." She muttered softly.

"Don't know why they gave me this shit job..." Mumbled Torvrar as he stood at the entrance to Whiterun's marketplace. The day had started cold and never did get much better, so Torvrar felt like he had a damn good reason not to particularly like the small part he was given.

He leaned against the side of the wall that belonged to Belethor's Shop. He had his arms crossed over each other, trying his best to keep them warm. They were always bare due to the type of armor he was wearing and at that moment he was cursing himself for picking such a poor piece of armor.

"Didn't know how much I've missed the smell of Whiterun until now." Torvrar's ears twitched when he heard a familiar voice speak and then a chuckle following after. He stood up straight and looked a head. By the gods (thank the gods) it was them. He let out a sigh that was part annoyed and part relieved when he saw Hope and Farkas walk past Whiterun's giant wooden gates.

"About damn, freakin time." Torvrar muttered as he turned and quickly headed through the marketplace to get back to Jorrvaskr.

Vilkas was sitting outside with Skjor and Aela. The three of them were enjoying a warm dinner outside. While Aela and Skjor ate their food happily, Vilkas only picked at his and ate it piece by piece.

The more the sun got lower, the more he felt anxious and restless. So restless that he was about to march over to where Torvrar was and wait with him, even though he could barely stand to sit next to him for no more than five minutes.

"Hey!" Called Torvrar. Aela and Skjor both looked up, but Vilkas got up. He got up so fast that he nearly knocked his chair over. Aela turned her head to him with an eyebrow cocked and a smirk growing on her face. Vilkas only ignored her and waited for Torvrar to stop at their table.

Vilkas gave him a moment to catch his breath and then cleared his throat before speaking. "What is it Torvrar?" He asked as casually as he could.

Torvrar quickly looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Wha...what is it?" He snapped. "It's what you and the others had me do for hours! They're back!" He slightly shouted with a grumpy frown taking form on his face.

Vilkas felt like his stomach had just did a back flip, but he didn't show it on his face. _'Calm down idiot.'_ He told himself. "Oh, I guess I should go wait for them at the top of the steps then." He said (again, as casually as he could...) before walking past Torvrar and making his way around the building. He could feel Aela's eyes on him and could feel the smirk growing on her face, but he ignored her or at least tried to.

Hope and Farkas made their way through the marketplace and then up the first set of stairs. "Can't wait for a cold drink and warm meal." Commented Farkas as they made their way up the stairs.

Vilkas watched them walk around the curve next to the Gildergreen tree at an antagonizing slow pace. When they finally reached the stairs, Vilkas stepped out and spoke before they could take their first step. "There you are!"

Farkas and Hope both stop and look up at him. Hope was surprised to see him there, but Farkas wasn't. He was expecting someone to be there waiting for them.

Vilkas gave Hope a warm smile as he walked down a couple of steps towards them. "We've been waiting for you." He said. Hope blinked a couple of times before knitting her eyebrows together. "You..." She stops to slightly look away from him. "You were?" She asked with a bit of shakiness to voice.

Vilkas's eyebrows quickly furrowed as he picked up on that. Her heart beat was going a mile a minute and he could hear it. Did they run back or something? "Yes?" Vilkas replied in more of a question than a response.

In the corner of his eyes he saw his brother Farkas shift around uncomfortably. Vilkas quickly looked to him and saw that he too was looking away, obviously Farkas knew something he didn't.

Vilkas slowly looked back at Hope and examined her eyes. Though they weren't on him, he could still see into them pretty well and she clearly had something on her mind. Maybe even something she wanted to say to him, but feared something might happen if she did. If that were the case...then what was it that was on her mind? What was it that she wanted to say?

"...Why were you waiting for me?" She finally asked, breaking the silence that had quickly grew heavy. Vilkas stared at her for a moment longer, wanting her to look at him, but she just wouldn't. _'Well this wasn't exactly what I was expecting...'_

But what was he expecting? Did he expect her to run up to him with excitement about the job? Did he expect that the whole day and a half she had been gone was slow for her like it had been for him? Did he expect her to-

He didn't know what he expected, he didn't even know why he thought to expect anything...but this right now, was not one of the scenes he had pictured in his head just moments ago. The feeling he was feeling from her now? Was definitely not something he expected to feel when she returned.


	35. Chapter 35

The walk around the building felt like it lasted longer than it should of. Vilkas tried not to let his thoughts get to him, but it was hard. Especially with how heavy the air felt between him and Hope, even though she was walking behind him and Farkas.

He hadn't told her what was going on, after their long heavy silence on the stairs leading up to Jorrvaskr, Vilkas only told her to follow him and left it at that. After the ceremony, Vilkas knew there would celebration for Hope. He hoped at some point during, he would be able to pull her to the side and see what exactly was on her mind.

But that all waits until after, because now they were approaching the Circle and he could feel Hope's eyes widen in question to why everyone was outside.

Hope followed Vilkas and Farkas to where the Circle members were standing. Her eyebrows lifted with surprise as she stood before them all. Kodlak was at the head of them all while Skjor and Aela stood to the left of him and Farkas and Vilkas took their places to the right of him.

Kodlak gave her a nod and a warm smile before beginning. "Brothers and sisters of the Circle." He stops to look at each one of them. "Today we welcome a new soul into our mortal fold. This woman has endured, has challenged, and has showed her valor. Who will speak for her?"

"I stand witness for the courage of the soul before us." Farkas spoke, taking Hope by surprise. She quickly looked at him with her eyes wide, and all he did in response was give her a warm smile. To tell her that he meant everything that he was about to say.

"Would you raise your shield in her defense?" Kodlak asked with his warm smile remaining on his face.

"I would stand at her back, that the world might never overtake us." He said in confidence, causing butterflies to flutter all through out Hope's body.

"And would you raise your shield in her honor?"

"It stands ready to meet the blood of her foes."

"And would you raise a mug in her name?"

"I would lead the song in triumph as our mead hall reveled in her stories."

As they went on, Hope couldn't help but feel something swell inside her. Was it pride? Embarrassment from the attention? She didn't know. All she did know was that she was happy. She was happy because those staring back at her now; Kodlak, Skjor, Aela, Farkas, and...Vilkas, her friends were now accepting her as one of them.

And they were her friends...they were friends that would raise their shields in her honor. Friends that would never forsake her or betray her. She knew that now, no matter what she was feeling before about them, now she truley did know. And she knew she was where she belonged, but something still plagued her mind.

Because sometime during her deep thinking, her eyes trailed from Farkas to Vilkas and when they did, he didn't look away. Their eyes immediately locked, she watched a proud smile form on his face and something different appear in his eyes. Feelings she had towards him were complicated, though she knew that the others would never hurt her...she still couldn't help but think that Vilkas already did. After this, after everything that was going on, she needed answers from him. She needed to get to the bottom of it fast, because if she were to call him shield-brother like she already has with Farkas, then she needs to know if she can truly trust him to watch her back and not tear into it. _'Stop.'_ She quickly told herself.

 _'You've already decided to trust them, so just stop.'_ She repeated in her mind. That may be so but...she still needed answers from him. She needed to feel better about it all...she needed to stop having this feeling grow inside her every time she looked at him.

"Then this judgment of this Circle is complete!" Kodlak's loud, proud voice shook Hope out of her deep thinking and caused her to quickly look at him. "This woman's heart beats with fury and courage that have united the Companions since the days of the distant green summers. Let it beat with ours, so the mountains may echo and our enemies may tremble at the call."

"It shall be so." Everybody spoke at the same time, making Hope jump just a little bit.

She looked at everyone of them and all of them gave her a proud, confident smile. Except for Skjor, he just gave her a nod and then looked away. She figured that was his way of giving her a proud and confident smile.

With nothing else needing to be said, the Circle members begin to part and walk past her and make their way to the fresh mead that was set out for tonight's special occasion. But not before stopping and giving her a good pat to the back or shoulder.

"You did it!" Cheered Ria from behind. She came running to Hope from her seat and gave her a surprise hug from behind. Hope quickly pried her arms off of her and turned around to face her. "I knew you could, I knew you would." She said with a proud nod while her arms crossed over her breasts. "I knew the moment I first saw you sitting on that bench outside of Jorrvaskr, with sweat beading up on your forehead." She chuckled.

Hope blinked as she watched Ria chuckle and then watched other members of the Companions come up and congratulate her. But their words were going through one ear and out the other. Hope was stuck on what Ria had brought up, the first day when she was stuck sitting on a bench because she was so sure that she would get rejected.

That was the first day she was truly accepted into their fold and for some reason, it had felt like years since that day. She didn't know why, it had really only been a few months since she joined the Companions. Maybe it was because of all the training and how far she had come or maybe it was because of all that had happened to her. From getting attacked by a werewolf...Vilkas...

 _'Vilkas.'_ His face came to her mind as did his name. She quickly turned and looked back behind her and found him still standing in the same spot he was in before. He was looking at her until she looked back at him. She watched him blink a few times and then quickly look away, playing it off like he had "accidentally" looked at her.

Even though he pretended that he wasn't looking at her, he still looked like he was waiting for her for some reason. Was he wanting to talk to her too? Was it that obvious that something was on her mind.

"Enough of this!" Torvrar shouted, making everyone cringe from his loud obnoxiousness voice. "This is a time to celebrate my friends! And by celebrate, I mean drink!" He shouted and before she knew it, a mug full of mead was shoved into her arms with some splashing out onto her chest. Where did it even come from?

Hope opened her mouth to object, but before she could even get started Torvrar threw an arm around her and led her straight to the tables where the rest of the other Circle members had gone. All except Vilkas, who was watching Torvrar move Hope along with furrowed eyebrows.

"Torvrar, I'm not really in the mood to-"

"Oh no you don't!" Torvrar interrupted Hope with his usual shout. "I have yet to break your mead virginity, so I refuse to let you get out of it tonight! Because as I said my friend." He stops to sit them both down in chairs that were side by side. "Tonight, we're celebrating!" He cheered as he grabbed at a mug that was already full on the table and then held it high up in the air.

"So go on my friend!" He said while gesturing his mug towards hers. "Drink!"

Hope watched him take a big chug of his mead and then slowly looked down at the mug that was given to her. She looked over to Ria who had just sat down in the other chair that was next to her and when she did, all Ria could offer her was a smile and a shrug before taking a drink out of her own mug of mead.

Hope's eyes slowly go back to the warm colored liquid that was inside her mug. She watched it move slowly from side to side. _'I really shouldn't right now but...'_ She bit her lower lip as she stared down at her mug full of mead.

She really wanted to get her talk with Vilkas over with but she was also not to eager to start it. In fact, she had no idea how to start it. So maybe a little alcohol will help...

So she places her lips to the edge of the cup and slowly tips it back. The moment the warm liquid swims through her mouth, she quickly takes the mug away and gulps it down with hesitation. "Hmm..." She hummed out loud.

"Well?" Torvrar asked while leaning into her from the side. "It..tastes weird..." She replied. "It's...bitter sweet?"

"Ha! I guess everyone has their own opinion on the first taste. To me, it was like drinking the heavens." He told her with a dreamy tone to his voice. "I bet the more you drink it the more you'll like it." He said with his mug bumping hers afterwords.

Hope watched him swig down another huge gulp out of his mug and then shrugged before taking another drink out of hers. He was right, it did taste a bit better the second time going down.

What time is it? How long has it been since Hope's first cup of mead? She didn't know, all she did know was that her face felt numb and she could no longer hold up her head. "And then, and then I said!" Torvrar was in the middle of a joke but he could hardly get two words out before bursting into laughter. "Then he-" He laughed some more and even added a slap to his knee while in the middle of it.

Hope groaned as she tried to hold her head up, she's decided to try and sit up and lean back in her chair. "T-" She starts but can't seem to finish her sentence, let alone word. "You're joke isn't very funny..." Athis decided to finish Hope's sentence, as if he read her mind. His voice was slurred but he was at least able to hold his head up. "But you haven't even heard the best part!" Torvrar protested.

"Best part he says..." Muttered Hope as she finally was able to get herself up and then leaned back into her chair. She hung her head back off the top of her chair and saw Njada sitting next to Farkas. "Hm?" She wondered out loud with a cocked eyebrow.

It looked like Njada was well drunk and...posing? At least it looked like posing because she had her chest out and on top of the table. It was covered though, covered by a thin shirt and she looked she was trying to get Farkas in bed with her. Hope's eyes slowly moved to Farkas, and he looked less than interested in her.

"Pfff..." A stifled chuckle leaves Hope causing Njada and Farkas both to look over at her. They both furrow their eyebrows at her at the same time and she can't help but laugh at that. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She apologized while laughing but something told her they didn't believe her because of the looks they continued to give her.

She lets out a content, drunken sigh as she slowly sits back up straight and goes for her mug again. "Here have some more!" Torvrar said happily as he poured some more mead into her mug before she could pick it up. "More sounds good." Hope hummed out in delight as she picked up her mug and brought it up to her mouth.

But before her lips could touch the edge of her cup, a hand had suddenly been placed over the top of it, stopping her. Hope's lips had actually come in contact with the hand before she realized it was there. She furrowed her eyebrows down a she looked down at the hand. It was big and masculine with a bit of hair on the knuckles. That hand could only belong to one person.

An annoyed groan left her as she sat down her mug and looked away. "Hello kill joy." She said with a grumpy frown taking form on her face. An annoyed scoff was heard (before who she already knew it was) spoke. "I think you've had enough." Said Vilkas as he removed his hand from her mug.

Hope slowly moved her eyes up to Vilkas, keeping her eyebrows furrowed. "Go away will you." She told him with her hands shooing at him. "I don't want to see your...stupid face..." She mumbled with a drunk slur as she grabbed her mug again and took a quick drink out of it before Vilkas could try and take it away.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her as he watched her swallow a big gulp of mead. "Your stupid..." She continues to mumble after placing her mug back down on the table. "Your stupid...dangerous face..."

 _'Dangerous?'_ Vilkas questioned in his mind. He furrowed his eyebrows down more as he blinked down at Hope. Why would she suddenly call him dangerous like that?

"I mean!" She keeps going, but louder this time. "I mean I don't even know why I keep thinking about you like you're my...pfft I don't know." She laughed with both hands rubbing at her eyes. "I don't know what I'm talking about..." She mumbled. "I just feel..funny...and worried."

"Worried?" Vilkas questioned, he was wanting to hear more from her and so did everyone else it seemed, because the Companions that remained outside were quiet and watching her with lifted eyebrows.

"I'm worried, yes!" She shouted. "I'm worried because I don't know if I'm going to become a warrior or your next meal."

"Alright, that's enough!" Farkas shouted, hoping it covered up the last word she said, but it didn't. Or at least it didn't for Vilkas and he didn't understand it. Next meal? What does that mean? Why would she say such a thing? He didn't know, but he was going to find out. Whether she was drunk or not, gods be damned he was going to find out!

"I mean, that's enough mead." Farkas nervously chuckled as he grabbed Hope by the arm and stood her up. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep." He told her. "Huh? But I'm not tired..." She objected while yanking her arm out of Farkas's grip. It caused her to stumble back into Vilkas and when she did, he felt her immediately tense up and then get away from him as fast as she could. _'Alright, that's it.'_

"You heard her." Vilkas growled as he took a hold of Hope's arm. "She's not tired." Before Hope or Farkas could object, Vilkas quickly pulled Hope along around Jorrvaskr. As they walked away he could hear Torvrar state. "Well that was weird!"

"Hey, slow down!" Hope demanded. She even tried pulling her arm out of Vilkas's grip, but she couldn't. Finally he came to stop and he did so, so fast that she came stumbling into him. Vilkas let go of her arm and when he did, she stumbled back a bit and then looked around. He had led her to the other side of Jorrvaskr where they could be alone.

"Why'd you bring me over here?" She asked while continuing to look around like she's never been there before. "You didn't bring me here to eat me did you?" She joked, but he didn't find it very funny. When she looked back at him, he had his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Learn to take a joke." She mumbled as she stumbled over to the stairs and slowly sat down on the top one. "Why are you saying things like that?" He asked, getting straight to the point. "Saying what things?" She asked while moving her knees up to her chest and then resting her head down on the tops of her knees.

"Things like, eating you." He replied, not moving an inch from his spot. "Oh, those things..." She mumbled into her knees.

Then with a loud sigh leaving her she speaks without thinking. "Probably because you're a werewolf."

A sharp pain surges through Vilkas and for a moment, he felt like his heart stop. "W-what?" He can barely speak, so when he does it sounds like he was breathless, like someone had just punched him in the gut really hard.

"That sounded much better in my head..." She chuckled. _'Just how did that sound much better in your head!'_ He wanted to argue, but he couldn't find his voice.

"Farkas told me, well more like showed me." She explained.

Vilkas's mouth watered as his stomach tightened into horrid knots. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"What...what do you mean?" He hesitantly asked. He was trying to act like he didn't know what she was talking about, but he was doing a bad job at it.

"You know what I mean. He turned, right in front of me..." She replied quietly with the memory still too fresh in her mind. She had her head hung back now, away from her knees and up so she could look at the stars. It was a cold night, but a pretty one because of how clear the sky was.

The image of Farkas's muscles expanding and then the bloody scene flashing before Hope's eyes made her shiver. It was something she didn't want to think on, in fact it was something she wanted to forget entirely but knew she never would.

Vilkas slowly brought his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. He tightly shut his eyes as static started to appear before them. His head started buzzing and his body heat up. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do. _'...Does she know about...'_

"We were ambushed by several people that Farkas called the Silver Hand." She continued to explain. "So, he turned into a werewolf and tore them to shreds right. in front. of. me."

 _'Oh gods.'_ Vilkas didn't know how much more of this he could take. The thought of Hope watching something so horrid with a fearful expression on her face made his chest tighten and nearly take his breath away.

"I was scared." She told him. "So scared that I drew my weapon on him."

 _'Oh gods.'_ He repeated in his mind. The buzzing in his head got so loud that for a moment he thought bee's were swarming around him. He could feel sweat bead on his hairline as well as feel his muscles start to tremble. He didn't want to hear any more, he just wanted to flee. Leave and forget this conversation ever happened. But he didn't.

"Farkas told me some things while I had my bow drawn on him too." She told him with her own muscles beginning to tremble. Earlier she thought getting drunk would make the conversation easier but really it didn't. She felt like she was saying everything wrong, but couldn't stop herself from speaking.

 _'I don't want to know.'_ Vilkas wanted to tell her, but he didn't. He only stayed silent and forced himself to continue to listen. No matter how much his body and mind were telling him to flee.

"He told me that the rest of the Circle are werewolves too...that you're a werewolf..."

 _'Stop.'_

"That you-" She stops, she stops because her throat tightens and she feels like she can no longer breath. Her heart was slamming against her chest and Vilkas could hear it. He could hear its nervous beats and feel the rush of blood in her veins. _'She knows.'_

He hears her take in a deep breath and then exhale it slowly. He knew what was coming and he hated it.

"I know it was you." She finally speaks. Breaking the agonizing silence between them and shooting a sharp pain through Vilkas's chest. _'of course she does, I knew she did. So it shouldn't hurt like this...'_

But it did hurt. He felt like a fist had broken through his chest and gripped his heart, squeezing it so tight that it felt like it was going to burst any moment. He didn't want to hear what was going to happen next. But what was going to happen next? She has yet to say anything else, did she even know what to say?

No, she didn't. All she could do was just sit there and stare up at the sky, unable to find the words to speak. She needed to say something else, something to make it better. But she felt like nothing could make it better. She had no idea what was going through Vilkas's mind and she had no idea how he was going to react. She guessed that what happens next just depends on that, on Vilkas's reaction.

"I'm-" He tries to speak, but he can't find his voice. He hoped it didn't make her turn and look at him because his face was so hot he was sure that it must of been glowing red in the dark.

He feels sweat drops run down the side of his face. Not even Skyrim's freezing wind could break the heat stroke he felt like he was going through.

He hears movement and can only guess that it was Hope standing back up to her feet. When she did get to her feet, she stumbled and wobbled a little but was able to regain her balance quickly. The intensity of the moment was sobering her up fast.

When she fully turned around to face Vilkas, she was shocked by what she saw. He had one hand wrapped around his stomach and the other rubbing his forehead with his head bowed and eyes closed. The distraught expression on his face made her think he was going to be sick at any moment. She didn't know what to expect when she faced him due to the fact at how quiet he was, but she did know that she didn't expect him to be like this.

"Vilkas..." She trailed off as she watched him quickly wipe away sweat off his forehead before she could see it drip down the side of his face. "Farkas-" She stops again but only to regain herself and keep control over her words.

"Farkas told me it was just an accident, but-"

"It was!" Vilkas cut in, quickly looking up at her with his eyes wide. His eyes looked like he was begging her to believe him.

"It was nothing but an accident, I lost control and could do nothing but until the end when Skjor showed up." He quickly explained while taking a few hurried steps towards her.

"I swear, Liah." Without thinking, he reaches out and grabs both of her shoulders. "I would never hurt you."

Hope's eyes widened as her breath was slightly taken away. She stared into his eyes and examined them. They were wide and full of desperation. He was desperate for her to believe him, and she did.

The words that left his mouth were dripping with emotions, emotions that he'd never shown her before and they were emotions that let her know that she could trust him. Like she could trust Farkas and the others. She felt doubtful about Vilkas before, but now there wasn't a single doubtful thought about him. Now she knew for sure that he would die for her in a heart beat, and she would for him.

"I know."

Vilkas was shocked, he kept his grip on Hope as he continued to stare into her eyes. He almost looked like he didn't hear what she said. But it was more like not being sure he heard it right.

"I know it was an accident and I know you wouldn't hurt me." She said with her eyes moving down. "I just wished everyone came clean to me about it before instead of having to find out...like I did."

"Would you have reacted any differently if you did?" He asked, taking her by surprise. Hope looked back up at him and saw that his face had relaxed and relief now filled his eyes. "Would you have?" He repeated, his eyes locked onto hers.

"I don't know..." She muttered. "Probably not..." She admitted.

"Would you have stayed if you found out then?" He asked.

"Probably not." She admitted again.

Vilkas slowly nodded in response as his eyes kept burning into hers. Now they both stood in silence, but it wasn't a heavy silence nor a painful one.

Neither of them were sure what kind of silence it was exactly. It was just one that made their chests swell and tongues feel swollen. Swollen because neither of them knew what to say to each other, after all of that, what could they say?

"I'm..." Hope started to speak, but trailed off with her eyes slowly lowering.

Vilkas's eyebrows knit together as he watched her. "I'm sorry that my words didn't come out very good earlier..." She mumbled.

A small smile forms on Vilkas's face as he gently grabs her chin and brings her face back up to his. "Your words still aren't coming out very good." He told her. Pointing out how she was sounding and how her words sounded. "I think you may have had too much mead."

"I think you're right." She agreed with a nod and a small smile.

Vilkas chuckled in response as he unthinkingly ran his thumb across her jaw-line.

Hope shivered from the small gesture and Vilkas took notice of it.

His smile slowly faded as his eyes narrowed down towards her. His thumb slowly moved back across her jaw-line and then slid up to her bottom lip. He gently pressed it against her lips and watched the sides of her face turn a light shade of pink.

 _'What are you doing idiot?'_ He questioned himself. _'Now isn't the time or place.'_ He told himself, but he wasn't listening. Many times he's found himself in this moment with her, and didn't even know it most of those times.

He just knew that they would find themselves close and staring into each others eyes. _'I want to kiss her.'_ He admitted, he finally admitted. He knew he felt the desire to kiss her before but he always shrugged it off, now was different. Because now, he didn't want to just shrug it off. He wanted feel her lips against his and...maybe more.

He heard a faint, shocked gasp leave Hope when she saw him leaning towards her. She felt both of his hands gently move to the side of her face with his thumbs resting just below her jaw-line. _'I don't think now's a good time for this...'_ She thought to herself, but she didn't stop him. She didn't stop him because she wanted it to be a good time for it, she wanted to kiss him.

She felt the tip of his nose brush against hers as he tilted their heads. His face was so close to hers, his lips were so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath spread across them and when it did, shivers were sent down her spine.

When she felt Vilkas's lips brush against hers she felt her heart leap inside her chest, but then she felt something else. Something that had her pulling away and reeling back from him. A sharp pain was suddenly sent through her, sent through her head and her body. She felt like she had just been struck with two arrows.

Vilkas blinked a few times as he watched her bend over and grab her head as well as her stomach. "Liah?" He slowly approached her with his eyebrows knit together and a hand held out to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he watched her start to rub her forehead. "I don't know..." She replied with pain showing in her words. "It..." She trails off with a heavy breath leaving her afterwords. Vilkas continued to watch her with worrisome eyes.

She inhales deeply and then exhales just as deeply. The pain starts to fade in her stomach but it remains in her head. "It...feels like it did earlier..." She said with both hands being placed on her temples.

"Earlier?" Vilkas questioned. "Yeah." She breathed.

Vilkas examined her for a moment, watching the color in her face slowly fade. Even though her stomach was no longer hurting she still looked like she was going to be sick any second. "Maybe you should go lay down." He told her while gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

Hope inhaled deeply once more and then slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were watery from the sudden migraine and her skin was ashy. "Kind of looks like you've had a bit too much mead." He told her with a small smile. "M..maybe.." She replied with both hands still rubbing her temples.

"I think I do need to get to bed." She admitted with a sigh. "Come on, I'll help you." He said, offering her his arm to hold onto.

Hope looked down at it and then looked up at him with a smirk. "I'm sure I can find my way to the sleeping quarters just fine." She told him. "You sure? Wouldn't want you falling down those stairs." Vilkas said with his own smirk.

"I think I'll be okay." She said with her eyes slowly going down towards the ground. "Alright." Vilkas responded with a nod. Hope slowly moved her eyes back up to him and for a moment, they both just stood there looking into each others eyes once more. After a minute goes by, she gives him a quick, shy smile and then walks past him to head back towards Jorrvaskr.

She doesn't know when she falls asleep, in fact she had no idea when exactly she even reached her bed. She just knew the moment she closed her eyes, everything fell dark and the images that came after...were horrid.

" _Mindok Kruziik Al Alok."_ There are those words again, the same words that keep being repeated to her over, and over again. She didn't know what they meant and she wanted them to stop. " _Mindok Kruziik Al Alok._ " They're louder this time, so loud that at the end they almost sound like thunder.

Next, after the repeating line fades comes an image. One that was all too familiar.

Red eyes burning into her, burning into her soul as a rumble from its chest makes the earth beneath it shake. Smoke seeps out of the corner of its mouth as fire rises all around it. The fire grows and it surrounds Hope, nearly consuming her but before it can; it stops and the red eyes before her slowly disappears. At first she thinks its because its the end of the terrible nightmare, but no, it just gets worse.

Suddenly, she's somewhere cold. Somewhere that's so high she can nearly see all of Skyrim. Then the earth below her feet rumbles once more and the cold air around her becomes still. It stops completely and she feels like she's going to suffocate. Then in front of her is a blast of light with a high pitched sound following after. It was a sound of hurling wind, but there was no wind and it became so loud she felt like her ear drums were going to burst.

Soon the blast of light in front of her grows and brightens, it hurts her eyes and she wants to shut them, but she can't. It was almost like someone had their very hands over her forehead and were holding her eyelids open with their fingers. The intensity of the light goes straight to her head, making it pound with excruciating pain. Then when she thought it couldn't get any worse, something hurls from the blast of light. Something that's voice shouts and makes the heavens themselves tremble, but she couldn't see it, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't see it. All she could see was a dark shape explode above the light and then nothing.

She wakes up with her body hurling forward and a loud gasp leaving her, making Ria nearly jump out of her skin.

Ria was sitting on her own bed, tying her boots. She was getting ready to leave for a job. "Hope? You okay?" She asked with her eyebrows knit-together in worry.

Hope didn't answer, she only stayed sitting up with her chest heaving in and out. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was a gape as sweat fell down her forehead. "Hope?" Ria says her name again, trying to grab her attention.

She hears a low groan leave her as she slowly holds her hands up and places them over her eyes. "Are you...are you okay?" Ria asked again. "I uh..." Hope trails off, trying to collect her words, but she can't.

Not with how her head was pounding and how her whole body felt weak. She felt terribly ill and she didn't know why, she was fine yesterday. "You don't look so good." Ria points out as she stands up from her bed. "Yeah..." Hope mumbles as she slowly lowers her hands away from her face.

Ria approaches her bed and places a hand on Hope's forehead. "Wow!" She exclaims. "You're burning up!"

Hope groans again as she slowly lays back in her bed. She looks up at the wooden ceiling with foggy eyes and a pounding head. "You should probably stay in bed today." Ria told her as she looked down at her with concern filling her eyes.

"I think you're right..." Hope replied weakly. Even if she wanted to get out of bed, she knew she couldn't.

"Are you awake yet whelp?" Skjor's grumpy voice came through the doorway and it was honestly the last thing Hope wanted to hear at the moment. She hears a couple of footsteps approach her bed and she doesn't need to look up to know that it was Aela who was with him.

"What's wrong with you?" Asked Aela with furrowed eyebrows. "You look like death." She commented.

"Thanks..." Hope muttered as she kept her eyes on the ceiling.

"Hmm..." Skjor hummed as he examined her with a frown. "Looks like some kind of...flu?" He guessed as he continued to examine her.

"If that's so, then you should probably stay in bed today. I imagine no body here wants to catch what you have." Aela said.

"Hmph." Skjor exclaimed grumpily.

Aela turned to him with a cocked eyebrow.

"You just had to fall ill on the day I have a job for you..." He muttered.

Hope only scoffs at him in response.

"Now, now." Aela said while placing a hand on Skjor's shoulder. "No need to get mad at the whelp for falling ill, it's not her fault."

"Hmph." Skjor exclaimed again. "Just get better whelp, I'll hold onto the job for you till tomorrow."

With nothing else needing to be said, Skjor quickly turns his back on her and then leaves the sleeping quarters. Aela watched and then turned to Hope with a sympathetic smile. "Get some rest and stay in bed today. I'll have Tilma bring you some food and water and have her check on you from time to time."

Hope nodded in response and then felt her give her a soft pat to the leg before turning and leaving the room. "I gotta get going, but get better okay? Because you look really bad." Said Ria as she continued to stare at Hope with worried eyes.

"I'll be fine." She said with a wave of her hand. "All I need is rest."

Ria nodded in response and then after giving Hope a small smile, turns and leaves the room. Hope lets out a relieved sigh when she knows that Ria was no longer in ear shot. She was thankful to have Ria as a friend, but she wanted to be alone today. She just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep.

So she does, she closes her eyes and falls into a deep sleep.


	36. Chapter 36

**Sorry for the late update guys! I've been horribly sick this week so it's been hard to focus on this chapter (Blah!) Anyways, I'm sorry if it's kinda short but I hope you guys like it anyways!**

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Hope stayed in bed that whole day. There were a few times when she thought she could get up but every time she made the motion to do so, her body would fail and send her falling back into her bed; leaving her feeling worse than before. She ran high fevers all day, every time someone came into the room and saw her, they would slowly back up until they were completely out of the room. They were treating her like she had some sort of plague and she just might have, but she didn't know for sure. All she did know was that it couldn't end soon enough.

As the day went on and after a few check ups from Tilma, Vilkas eventually wondered into the room. He played it off like he was looking for someone, but by the way he looked at her before he left the room made her feel like he was checking on her and making sure she was okay. Tilma's visits annoyed her, but when Vilkas had come, it sent butterflies through her stomach and made her feel a little bit better.

Finally after a long and painful day, Hope's able to close her eyes and get some more sleep. When night came she was starting to feel better and could tell that her fever had break. She knew after a good night's rest, she would be up on her feet again the next day.

When the next day came, Hope couldn't get out of bed fast enough. The moment she opened her eyes, she could tell that something had changed and whatever she had, was gone. She was relieved but also confused. Just what was it that she had? Could it of been lingering effects from the Silver Hand's poisoned arrow? Or perhaps lingering effects from that brute of a draugr's strange attack? She didn't know, all she did know was that she was glad to be able to stand on her feet and just maybe get to do some work.

After putting her hair in a long braid and getting dressed in her uncomfortable, clingy iron armor. She heads upstairs and (for once) is delighted to see Skjor sitting at the table eating a fresh breakfast.

Skjor can hear hurried footsteps approaching, so he looks up and sees that it is Hope. "Since you're up on your feet, I'm going to guess that you're feeling better." He stated. Hope nodded in response and then asked. "Yesterday you said you had a job for me? Is it still available?"

"One day of rest enough for you?" Skjor questioned with a cocked eyebrow. Hope nodded again in response.

"Hmph." Skjor exclaimed grumpily like always, even though Hope didn't know why he did this time. "I guess if you're sure. Don't blame me though if you die because you arn't well enough." He mumbled the last part. _'How could I blame you if I'm dead?'_ She wanted to smart off, but she didn't. She felt like it would be best to keep her mouth shut and just give him a smile and nod.

"So...you do still have the job?" She asked again, just wanting to get to the point. She was itching to do some real work and prove her worth of being a true Companion. "I do." He said while grabbing at his mug. Hope lifted an eyebrow as she watched him take a big drink of his water. After wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, Skjor stands up and then quickly walks past Hope for the stairs. "Come with me, we need to speak to Kodlak first."

 _'Kodlak? What for?'_ She wondered as she followed after Skjor.

They walked down the stairs and then down the hallway in complete silence. Hope made her eyes wonder around so that she wouldn't look at Skjor. She was afraid that if she did she would get stuck in a moment where he caught her looking at him and she didn't know how he would react to something like that.

When they reached Kodlak's room, his door was closed. Skjor knocked on the door and then stood there in silence...again. They both waited for a moment before the door opened in front of them and Hope was surprised to see that it was Farkas. When he opened the door, he was just as surprised to see that it was them. His eyes locked with Hope's for a brief moment, he broke it by giving her a smile and a nod before walking around them both.

"Kodlak." Skjor said while walking into his room with Hope right behind him. "Skjor, what can I do for you?" Kodlak asked with his usual warm smile. "You remember that job I got a couple of days ago?" Skjor asked, getting straight to the point. "Are you talking about the one near Darkwater Crossing?" Kodlak questioned with lifted eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's the one." Skjor replied with a nod. "I was thinking the whelp here could take it." He said with his head nudging towards Hope.

Kodlak raised an eyebrow at Skjor and then moved his eyes to Hope. He examined her for a moment, watching her expression shift into a confused one. "You think she's ready for it?" He questioned with his eyes going back to Skjor. "I wouldn't of offered it to her if I didn't." Skjor stated.

Kodlak couldn't help but chuckle in response as he looked back to Hope. "If you're okay with it, then I am." He said with a confident nod. "Great." Skjor said with no change to his expression what-so-ever.

He then turned to Hope and said. "Come with me, I'll give you the job details."

"Hold a moment." Spoke up Kodlak. Skjor and Hope both turned and looked at him at the same time. "I would like a word with our newest member here before you do that." He said with his usual smile remaining.

Skjor lifted an eyebrow up at him and then nodded before turning his head back towards Hope. "Come find me upstairs when you're done here." He told her. Hope nodded in response and then watched him walk out the door with it closing behind him afterwords.

"Take a seat lass." Kodlak said before Hope could even get the chance to turn around. Hope looked at him and then gave him a nervous nod. _'I wonder what he wants to talk about...'_

Hope quickly did as she was told and took a seat in the chair that sat across from his. She settled down in the chair and then slowly looked at Kodlak, waiting for him to speak.

Kodlak just sat there for a moment, with his arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his face while he stared at Hope, examining her. "So, I had a talk with Farkas this morning." He said with his calm smile remaining.

Hope didn't have a smile on her face, in fact she had the opposite of a smile. Her stomach started to twist into sickening knots that made her throat tighten. _'Did Farkas tell him what I said to Vilkas yesterday? Did he tell him that I know their secret? Did he tell him that I drew my weapon on him during the job?'_ Several questions swarmed Hope's mind as her jaw tightened.

Kodlak saw the nerves appear in Hope's face and couldn't help but chuckle. "Calm down lass, if your heart goes any faster it'll pop right out!" He joked, but she didn't think it was very funny. Kodlak's comment let her know that he knows..and that worried her. Was he going to kick her out because she knew? Was he going to kick her out because she almost gave up their secret yesterday in front of the other Companions? The thought of that made her want to be sick. She had just fully became a Companion, she can't get kicked out now.

Kodlak stares at her for a moment longer before opening his mouth and finally speaking. "I'm told that you know some secrets before your...appointed time."

Hope quickly nods without hesitation, in fact she nodded so fast and so hard that the bones in her neck popped. "I...I do." She replied. Kodlak opened his mouth to speak more but Hope didn't give him the chance to. "But I haven't told anybody! And I won't tell anybody!" She blurted without thinking.

Kodlak couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how frantic she was being. She was clearly worried, so he needed to clear her mind. "Calm down lass." He said with a wave of his hand, making her relax her shoulders a bit. "You have no need to worry because I'm not worried." He told her with a smile. "At least, not about that." Hope's shoulders quickly tensed again and her heart resumed its panic pace.

"I'm worried about how learning this secret of ours has affected you. Farkas told me a little of your reaction, but not much." He explained. "So tell me lass, how do you feel about it?" He asked with a smile no longer being present on his face.

Hope blinked, staring at him for a moment, not really sure what he meant. "Well I guess..." She trails off, trying to find the words she wanted to use. "I guess I don't really know how to feel about it?" It was more of a question than answer.

"I mean." She continues. "At first I was scared and then I was angry. I was angry because I've admired the Companions since I was a child, so I guess I felt betrayed in a way..."

"And how do you feel now?" Asked Kodlak.

"I don't know." She answered with her shoulders shrugging.

They both sat there in silence for a moment until it was Hope that broke it. "I don't feel betrayed or scared anymore." She finally said. "I still feel confused though, but not about you guys. Just about the whole...werewolf thing..." She almost couldn't bring herself to say that horrific word. It was hard for her to come to terms that Kodlak; a nice, warm, old warrior was one of those...things.

"I know I can trust you." She said unconsciously. She said that more for her than for Kodlak, but he was still happy that she had said it non-the-less. "Good." He said with a nod and a warm smile. "Don't ever doubt our loyalty because we, all of us, would die for you just like we know that you would die for us."

Chills ran through Hope as did warmth and relief. It seemed that, that was all he wanted to know. Kodlak feared that Hope feared them and only stayed because she didn't know what would happen to her if she left (which would of been nothing of course). So hearing those words leave her mouth, made Kodlak feel better about the situation.

"So..." Hope spoke quietly, making Kodlak's eyebrows lift in question. "You're not going to turn me into a werewolf are you?" She muttered under her breath.

A burst of laughter leaving Kodlak had Hope jumping and nearly falling out of her chair. She watched him laugh a few more times before wiping away a tear and then breathing out contently. "No, no lass. Only the members of the Circle have the beast blood and it's optional. No body was forced into taking it in." He assured her and then allowed his eyes to trail down to the table in front of him. "Even though some do take more to the beast blood than others." He said softly.

Hope knit her eyebrows together in concern and confusion by what he said. "Are you one of them?" She asked. "Me? No, this old heart yearns for something else...something more..." He replied with a...sad smile forming on his face. Hope tilted her head as she watched him gaze down at the table with what looked like a storm of thoughts spreading through out his brain.

"What is it that you yearn for?" She couldn't help but ask.

Kodlak's eyes slightly twitched to the side and then moved back up to her. His sad smile turned into a warm one. "No need to get into that right now. This old warrior's wants and worries aren't for you to concern yourself with." He told her.

Hope blinked at him and stared into his old grey eyes. She could see that there was something behind them, perhaps something he did want to say. But before she could even attempt to ask again, he spoke before her. "Skjor must be getting impatient by now. Go on up and see what details he has for you about that job."

Hope stared at him for a moment longer before giving him a small nod and then getting up from her chair to leave his room. She walked to his door and grabbed the knob, but before she could pull it open, he stops her. "Be careful out there lass, when you leave." She turned to him and lifted an eyebrow up at him. "The gods have a funny way of turning ones path so suddenly." The way he said that and when he said that...Hope could swear she saw a sparkle appear in one of his eyes. But for some reason, she didn't ask him what he meant...she just gave him a smile, a nod, and then left.

When Hope reached the top step, she stopped and looked around the dining hall. She saw Skjor sitting in the spot he was sitting in before, but this time Vilkas was next to him as was Farkas. _'Oh great.'_ Was all she could think as butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. She took a deep breath and then walked towards them slowly with her knees slightly trembling. She didn't know why she was so nervous, she was never this nervous before approaching them...

"Skjor." She said, making all three of them raise their heads up to her. Farkas blinked and then quickly looked back down at his plate, as if too nervous or worried to face her. Vilkas's jaw tightened as he swallowed his bite of food down hard. Then he smiled, acting like he felt nothing at all in that moment. "Hope." He spoke before Skjor could. Skjor quickly turned and looked at Vilkas with a grumpy frown for being interrupted, but Vilkas just ignored him.

"You're looking better today. Do you feel better?" He asked a little too quickly with concern showing in the back of his throat. "I do." She said with her eyes moving to the floor. "I feel a lot better actually..." She mumbled, now with the tip of her boot drawing on the surface of the wood floor. "Good..." Vilkas replied with his casual smile shifting into a...different form of a smile.

A small smile formed on Hope's own face in response. In the situation between them, Farkas could only clear his throat uncomfortably and shift around in his seat while Skjor only rolled his eyes before roughly getting out of his chair. Vilkas heard something that sounded like "idiot" leave his mouth when he did, but he just ignored it and curiously watched Skjor step over to Hope. "Come on, I'll give you the details outside and away from these morons." He said while quickly brushing past her and heading straight for the doors. Vilkas and Farkas both looked at him and watched him go outside with furrowed eyebrows.

Hope quickly followed after him even though he beat her outside by a mile. When she stepped outside, he was already standing in the middle of the training field with his arms crossed and a grumpy frown spread across his face, almost as if he had been waiting for her for months to get there. A sigh left Hope as she quickly rushed over to where he was and he watched her impatiently.

When she reached him, she stood in front him uncomfortably with her hands joining together behind her. Skjor watched her for a moment and then reached into his side pouch and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "The job you'll be doing is near Darkwater Crossing, heard of it?" He asked. She shook her head in response. "It's a small mining village just south of Windhelm. Here." He said while holding out the piece of paper.

Hope took it from him and then unfolded it and examined it. "That's directions on how to find it once you get to Windhelm." He explained. "What will I be doing?" She asked. "It's an extermination job. There's a cave near Darkwater Crossing that's infested with trolls."

Hope's eyebrows shot up as she quickly looked at him with her eyes wide from bewilderment. "Trolls?!" She exclaimed in response. "Yes trolls. You have stones in your ears or something?" He commented with a frown.

"Am I uh." She stops to clear her throat. "Am I going with someone?" She asked. "No, you're going by yourself on this one." He replied.

Hope's eyebrows shot up higher and her eyes widened so much she felt like her eyeballs were going to fall out. "By myself!?" She exclaimed again in bafflement. "What's wrong whelp? You scared?" Skjor questioned with what sounded like a smirk.

Hope blinked at him and then slowly looked away from him while folding the paper back up. "N..no..." She murmured as she placed the paper in her pouch. "Then what's the problem?" He asked with his arms re-crossing over his chest. "I've just...I've just never worked a job alone like this before..." She replied quietly.

"I know." Skjor replied, making Hope look back up at him. "That's why I gave you this job and that's why I'm sending you alone."

Hope knit her eyebrows together in confusion at him.

"If you work every hard job that comes your way with help, how do you expect to grow? How do you expect to get stronger and better with your skills?"

Hope's eyebrows now shot up in response, this was the first time that Skjor was actually saying anything encouraging to her.

"You have to learn to do things like this on your own, especially with your archery skills. You can't always depend on a heavy charging at your enemies while you shoot arrows from the back, because you're not always going to have someone to help like that. Trust me when I say that you'll find yourself alone in many situations in life, so that's why it's important to learn to do these things now rather than later."

Hope stares at him with her eyes wide and eyebrows kept raised. She couldn't believe the things that coming from his mouth. It was like he was a different person all of a sudden.

"You'll also die if you don't learn and then all the training we put in you will be for nothing." He grumpily pointed out. _'There he is.'_

"Now get going, you're wasting time." He told her before quickly brushing past her with his shoulder slightly brushing hers. Hope blinked a couple of times and then turned to watch him walk back to Jorrvaskr. After the door slammed shut behind him, she unthinkingly moved her eyes to the side, and there was Vilkas. Leaning up against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed. It looked like he was waiting to talk to her.

When he noticed her eyes on him, he gave her a small smile before standing back up straight and heading over to her. Hope quickly looked away and looked down at the ground as the butterflies she felt before started to stir inside her again.

"You heading out on a job?" Vilkas asked the moment he stopped in front of her. "Yeah." She replied with a nod. "What's the job?" He asked curiously.

"Um...Taking out trolls near Darkwater Crossing..." She replied nervously. This time it was the thought of the job that was making her nervous instead of Vilkas.

Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at her while he crossed his arms over his chest. "By yourself?" He questioned. Hope nodded in response.

"Skjor said I'll never learn how to survive on my own if I keep getting help from others..." She told him.

A disapproving scoff left Vilkas. "He's right but..." He trailed off, thinking. "It just seems a little much for you right now, especially by yourself. You did just get accepted as one of us after all..." He pointed out.

Hope lifted her head and looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. Vilkas cocked one up right back at her. "You don't think I can do it?" She questioned.

"I'm sure you can, with help." He replied with out thinking.

Hope quickly scoffed at him as she crossed her arms over her breasts. "Is that so?"

Vilkas blinked at her for a moment, not realizing what he had said at first. But then he suddenly feels like his own stomach gave him a hard punch. "That's not-" He cleared his throat. "What I meant was-" "What you meant was, is that I can't do it. Right?" Hope questioned, cutting him off.

"No, no that's not that I'm saying!" Vilkas defensively replied.

"Well that's what it sounded like!" Hope defensively replied back.

"What I meant was that I think anybody would need help with that kind of job! If you just let me go talk to Skjor, then maybe-"

"No no no. I'm going to do this by myself now, I'm going to prove to you that I can do it!" She shouted, cutting him off again with a finger pointing right at him.

Vilkas's eyebrows shot up and before he could object Hope had turned on her heels and stormed off. "Hang on! Wait!" Vilkas called as he ran after her.

"I really don't think you should do this job on your own. Let me talk to Skjor about it and you can do a different job by yourself."

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline." She replied as she continued to walk away from him.

Vilkas sighed as he quickly reached out and grabbed her shoulder to stop her and pull her back. "Stop."

Hope did so and then slightly turned her head towards him while lifting an eyebrow up at him.

"I don't have a good feeling about this one, Liah."

Hope's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She fully turned around to face him and studied his face while examining his eyes. He was serious, and he was worried about her. The fact of that rallied her butterflies again. "What doesn't feel good about it?" She asked with a bit of sincerity showing in her voice.

Vilkas blinked at her a couple of times before slowly letting go of her shoulder and taking a couple of steps away from her. "I uh." He stops to clear his throat. "I don't know. I woke up this morning feeling off and then you told me about the job Skjor gave you and the feeling increased." He explained.

Hope's eyebrows knit together in confusion at him. A bad feeling? Where was this coming from? It wasn't like Vilkas to tell her things like this, especially if it involved his feelings. "Maybe you're just having lingering feelings from last night." She guessed.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her, no that wasn't it, he was sure of it. But it was a better reason than him just having an all of a sudden bad feeling about a job that she just so happened to get. "Maybe...maybe you're right." It didn't feel right, but what else could he say? What else could it be? He couldn't explain because he didn't know.

"I'll be fine Vilkas, really." She said with a cheerful smile taking form on her face, even though Vilkas wasn't feeling very cheerful. "If you're sure..." Vilkas hesitantly replied. "I am!" She responded with her smile remaining.

Vilkas stared at her, looked into her eyes and studied them closely. He wanted to see if any kind of emotions would spring up in them, but non did even though he could sense her nervs acting up. But that was normal, it was the first time she was traveling far and doing a big job by herself. _'Traveling far...'_ The realization of that hadn't hit him just yet..and when it did, the feeling inside him got even worse.

It was an almost sickening feeling. One that caused your insides to twist and turn, one that made your chest tighten and your heart feel heavy; it was one that felt like it was never going to end. But maybe that was why he was feeling like that, Hope traveling far. She was going to Darkwater Crossing after all and that was near Windhelm, which is a few weeks journey from Whiterun.

The very thought of Hope being gone that long and the thought of her being alone that long sent pains through his stomach. So it made sense that, that could be the reason why he was feeling so off that day. It was the reason he was going with even if it didn't make much sense.

"I should...probably get going." Hope said, breaking the silence and breaking Vilkas's heavy thoughts. "Yeah, right. It's a long journey." He said with his throat clearing.

Vilkas and Hope both stared at each other for a moment longer, both wondering what to do in that situation.

Vilkas wondered if he should try and go for a kiss again, even though it was a bit awkward between them at that point. But he could make it non-awkward real quick...

 _'No, I'll save that for when she gets back...'_ That way he had something to hold onto until she got back, something that helped him believe that she **will** make it back. "Safe travels, Liah." He said with a nod. "And good luck."

She stared at him for a moment and then gave him a small smile along with a nod back. "Thanks Vilkas. I'll see you when I get back."

 _'When she gets back...'_ She will come back and everything will be the same again and the feelings that pained his insides will be gone. Right?

He didn't think so, he hoped so...but he didn't think so.


	37. Chapter 37

**Hey guys, I'm sorry if this chapter is a little boring and short. I've been sick (AGAIN) this week with a horrible cold that only got worse so it was really hard for me to focus on it. But I'm getting better which means the next chapter will be longer and hopefully better. Thank you guys for continuing to read my story and I hope this chapter is okay!**

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When Hope reaches Windhelm, she feels like she's been on the road forever. She had to take more than one carriage to get there and some of them weren't...very pleasant to spend with on the road so long.

"Here we are." Said the carriage driver as his horse comes to a halt. Hope quickly paid the man and then got off the uncomfortable ride as soon as she could. When her feet landed on the ground she was surprised when they immediately sunk into a foot of snow. She looked down and stumbled forward a bit trying to break herself free, but the snow was deep everywhere she stepped.

Then a sudden blast of cold wind hits her, nearly knocking her off of her feet. The wind was icy and when she breathed it in she felt like ice was already forming inside of her lungs. She quickly wrapped her arms around herself and gave off a violent shiver. She looked around and examined how the stone roads were covered in a sheet of ice that looked to be at least a couple of inches thick.

With her teeth clattering and her long braid being blown behind her by the chilly wind, she slowly turns and sees the great city of Windhelm sitting at the end of the long bridge that the carriage had dropped her off at, and it too was covered in nothing but snow and ice.

She's heard of this part of Skyrim being nothing but a cold nightmare filled with battles from the war, but she didn't know it was this bad. She felt like if she didn't get anything wrapped around her bare arms soon she was going to have ice forming on her very skin. So, with her arms still wrapped tightly around herself, she takes off down the bridge and towards the great city.

"Hm?" The gate guard said out loud as he saw Hope running towards him. When she stopped in front of him, he examined her, seeing her in nothing but iron armor with bare arms sticking out. He watched her shiver violently with her teeth clattering loudly.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows at him when she heard a chuckle come from behind his helmet. "First time around here I take it?" He asked as he looked her up and down again. Hope quickly nodded in response. "Well then I suggest you head over to a shop or the blacksmith to get you something warmer to wear. You won't last a day out here in that." He stated as he moved out of the way and allowed her to pass.

"Planning on it." She said through her clattering teeth as she quickly passed him and pushed open the giant metal gate doors. When they spread open, they groaned loudly like they were complaining about being moved and disturbed.

When Hope stepped through them, she wasn't surprised to see that even the inside of the city had piles of snow everywhere.

"Why can't you just leave me alone!" Cried a woman not far from Hope.

Hope blinked and quickly turned to find a Dark Elf woman being bothered by two large Nord men. "Because you're filth! You do nothing but pollute our city and eat our food!" One shouted, making the woman wince as if he had just plunged a blade into her heart.

"All you grey-skins are good for is laying around and making a desperate man happy at night." The other shouted. _'Okay, that's enough.'_

"Hey!" Shouted Hope as she charged right over to them.

The two obviously drunk Nord men both turn and watch her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why are you bothering this woman?" Asked Hope while she placed her hands on her hips.

One of the men quickly scoff. "Bothering!? She's bothering us with her presance!" He responded loudly.

"She doesn't seem to be doing anything but minding her own business." Hope argued with her arms now crossing over each other.

"Why don't you mind your own business!" The other yelled with his chest puffed out.

"It became my business when you started harassing this poor woman. Now either you two leave her alone or we're going to have a problem."

The two men quickly exchanged looks and then moved their eyes back to Hope. Both of them at the same time approached her and didn't stop until they were nearly touching her. "A problem you say?" One challenges. "Just exactly what are you going to do if we refuse?" The other challenges.

Hope's eyebrows furrow as she gives both of them a deep, nasty glare. She slowly uncrosses her arms and puffs out her own chest, taking them both by surprise even though they don't back down from their spots.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Hope could see the Dark Elf woman slowly back away, sensing something was about to go down.

Suddenly, one of the men put their hands on her chest to try and shove her. But before he could make the motion to do so, Hope quickly grabbed one of his wrist's and twisted it back hard. Forcing him to turn around and then get down on one knee. "Agh!" He cried out in pain and frustration. He tried to turn to yank his arm out of her grip but before he could, she quickly kicked his back hard sending him falling to the ground.

The other one watched his friend hit the ground with wide eyes and then quickly turned to Hope with a mean glare. "You stupid bitch!" He shouted as he quickly went in for a punch. He swung high but Hope dodged the attack, then he swung low but Hope dodged that attack also by jumping back and away from him.

He deeply glared at her with a bit of his teeth showing. From where Hope was standing he looked like a mad dog, no not even that. He just looked like a mad, diseased ridden skeever who thought it could take on a saber.

 _SHRINK!_ Hope's eye widened when she heard that familiar sound. She quickly looked down to the man's waist and saw that he had unsheathed his dagger. _'Does this fool really think he can take me out with that little knife?'_ But it wasn't the fact of that, that made Hope angry. It was the fact that this man was so angry that he was willing to try and take Hope out. _'I think an arrow in the knee will teach this idiot a lesson.'_

In a swift motion, Hope grabs her bow along with an arrow and has that arrow knocked back in a split second. The man's eyes widened when she did so, as if just realizing that his plan wasn't going to work.

"Alright, that's enough." A loud and deep voice spoke. Catching Hope and the man off guard. They both quickly turn their heads and watch a very tall and muscular man walk down large steps towards them. Behind him was another very tall and muscular man along with a few soldiers.

"Yarl Ulfric!" The man yelled, his voice suddenly horse. Hope furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over to him and saw nervous sweat already forming on his brow. She then turns and looks back to the man he called Ulfric.

 _'So this is...Yarl Ulfric? The leader of the Stormcloaks?'_

Hope's heard of him before, oh yes she's heard of him plenty from passing Stormcloaks and Imperiel soldiers that always stopped by Rorikstead's Inn. She examined him closely, from his long blond hair and blonde beard, to his strong jaw and broad shoulders, and to his piercing blue eyes that seemed to go right through her when he turned to look at her.

She watched his eyes move down her body and then slowly back up to her face. He stared at her for a good long second before turning to the man who she was just fighting. "What happened?" He asked with a voice so deep it almost sounded like thunder. Hope felt stupid for how much she was taken aback by his looks and...booming voice.

"This...outsider bitch is what happened!" The other man yelled before the first one could answer. He was just now getting up off of the ground. "We were minding our own business until she came along and picked a fight for no reason!" He accused with a finger pointed right at her.

"What!?" Hope exclaimed with her eyebrows furrowed. "You two are the ones that started it! You two are the ones that "happened"! They were harassing that woman over there and all I did was stick up for her!" Hope shouted with her own finger pointing at them both.

Ulfric moved his eyes to Hope for a moment and then moved his eyes over to the Dark Elf woman that she was talking about. The woman was looking down with her hands gathered in front of her. She looked nervous and looked like she really wanted to get out of there. When Hope looked at Ulfric, expecting him to believe her. All she found was an uninterested look in his eyes when he looked over to the poor woman.

Her jaw dropped when his eyes all too quickly went back to the two accusing men. "Filthy Imperiel lies! She's a spy, you can tell!" One shouted. _'Seriously!?'_

"Imperiel!?" Hope exclaimed angrily. Then, with out thinking she charges right over to the one that called such a thing and quickly grabbed his collar, pulling him down in one fast motion so that he was face to face with her. "Now listen here you flea bitten skeever! I'm no soldier and I don't plan to be a soldier! You want to throw insults and accusation? You better damn well make sure that there are some truth to them or at least make sure they make sense, because to me you sound more like a crying little boy than any man I've ever seen!" Her voice was so loud that it echoed through out the stone walls around them.

The man looked take back by Hope's motion and words. They all did, even Ulfric was a bit surprised by it. "Now I think it would be good if I plunged an arrow into your groin. You know..for good measure." She said through clenched teeth.

A chuckle was heard from one of the soldiers that stood behind Ulfric. Ulfric quickly looked at him and then quickly stepped toward Hope before she could do anything she might regret later. Even though it didn't look like she was going to regret it. "Alright, that's enough." He said with a hand landing on her shoulder.

Hope quickly shrugged it off while also letting go the Nord man she had a hold of. The man rubbed his chest as he stumbled back from Hope with his eyes moving to Ulfric.

Ulfric watched her for a moment, with a half amused smile and then turned his attention to the two men that were giving her trouble. "Alright Rolff, Angernor, that's enough. Be off with you, both of you." He said with his head nudging to the side. They both turn and look at Hope with a glare in their eyes and do what they are told, and leave.

"Hmph." Hope exclaimed as she watched them walk away. Suddenly remembering the Dark Elf woman that the two were just harassing, Hope quickly turns to see if she was okay, but she was already gone.

"Tell me girl." Ulfric's deep voice made Hope jump and quickly turn her attention to him. "What's an outsider I've never seen before doing in my city?" He asked with his eyes trailing her body up and down once more. Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him and did right back at him and made sure he noticed that she did. "Non of your business." She replied with her nose wrinkled.

Ulfric cocked an eyebrow up at her while the men behind him shot up their eyebrows with their eyes going so wide that she thought their eyeballs just might fall out. "Watch your tongue!" Shouted the other muscular tall man that stood right by Ulfric. "This is the Yarl and leader of the Stormcloaks your speaking to!" He yelled again.

 _'You don't say.'_ She wanted to smart off, but she didn't. She just looked at him with an unimpressed look. "It's alright Galmar." Chuckled Ulfric. "Hmph." Galmar exclaimed as he gave Hope a disgusted look and she just gave him one right back. "Come on, we need to get on the road." Ulfric said as he looked back at the soldiers behind him. He then turned back around and looked at Hope one last time before turning and walking around her with Galmar and the soldiers trailing right behind him.

Hope watched them until the metal gates shut closed with her nose kept wrinkled. Although Ulfric had broad shoulders, a strong jaw, and a good looking face, he wasn't really all that impressive as a person.

Hope was so caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten why she was even in the city in the first place. But when a blast of cold wind hit her like a frozen wall, she suddenly remembered. She quickly wrapped her arms around herself and quickly headed straight for the marketplace. She had never been to Windhelm so she had no idea where exactly the marketplace was, but she guessed it was where all the noise was coming from. So she went that way.

She felt relieved when she saw the marketplace was where she guessed. She stopped near the blacksmith station and examined the many stalls that were set along the city's great stone wall. Her eyes immediately fell on a stand that had a wrack right next to it, on the wrack were a few thick cloaks that looked like they were made of wool. "Thank the gods..." She muttered under her breath as she quickly approached the stall.

Behind it stood a tall High Elf woman. When she heard approaching footsteps, she looked up and examined the unfamiliar stranger with her giant gold eyes. "Looking to trade?" She asked. Hope quickly nodded and the High Elf woman noticed how her eyes immediately went to the cloaks she had just gotten in.

"How much for one of those?" Hope asked through clattering teeth. The High Elf woman eyed Hope's shivering body and then gave her a smug grin while leaning forward on her stand. "Fifty gold." She said, making Hope's jaw drop.

"Fifty gold!?" Hope exclaimed. "You heard me." The High Elf retorted.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at her. "No way. Not for just a single cloak."

"Okay, fine then." The High Elf shrugged. "Have fun in the cold." She said while turning her back to Hope.

Hope pursed her lips together as she watched the High Elf woman try to haggle her. She couldn't see her face, but she could feel the smug grin spread across it as she waited for her to break.

She looks back to the thick cloaks and when her eyes fall on them, her body gives off a mean shiver. She needed a cloak, she knew she wasn't going to last long in this place without one.

"Thirty gold..." Hope bartered with her eyes going back to the woman.

The High Elf quickly turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Forty-five."

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at her and then shifted her eyes back to the cloaks while thinking very hard about it. "...Forty."

"Deal!" The High Elf accepted.

Hope grumbled and mumbled as she pulled out her coin purse and counted forty gold out of it, she then hands it to the woman but not before wrinkling her nose at her.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" The High Elf smirked as she counted the coin in her hand.

"Yeah yeah..." Hope muttered as she quickly took a cloak down off the wrack, she decided to go with the darkest one because for some reason, it looked the warmest.

After shaking the snow off it, she pulls it around her shoulders and then ties it around her neck. The moment it was in place Hope couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh. The moment it fell around her and draped down her body, warmth just gathered all around her and she couldn't help but thank the gods in that moment. Now she could finally get back on the road and get this job done as soon as she could. Because the faster she got done, the faster she leave this gods-forsaken land.

"Okay..." She sighed to herself as she pulled out the directions Skjor wrote down for her. She opened the piece of paper up and examined it well.

She stared at it at a long time before admitting to herself that she had no clue where to go, the directions Skjor gave her were worthless. Only someone who's been to this part of Skyrim before could follow these directions and she was one of the few who hasn't been to this part of Skyrim before...

She chewed the bottom of her lip as she stared down at the piece of paper. Then hesitantly, turned around and looked at the High Elf woman again.

She was in the middle of re-locking a box after placing the coin that Hope had just given to her in it. She felt eyes on her and looked up, meeting Hope's eyes. "Is there something else you want?" She sounded annoyed.

"You know this part of Skyrim well, right?" Hope asked while completely turning towards her.

The High Elf cocked an eyebrow up at her while placing her lock box back in its place behind the stall. "Maybe...depends..." She replied.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at her, already knowing where this was going. "On what?"

"On your coin of course!" The High Elf laughed.

"Really?" Hope questioned with her eyebrows remaining furrowed.

"Really." The High Elf replied with a smug grin on her face.

Hope let out a sigh as she pulled her coin purse back out and pulled a handful of gold old. When her hand wasn't full enough, she heard the woman quickly clear her throat and then saw her innocently look away when Hope looked up at her. Mumbles and grumbles left her as she pulled out a few more gold and then slammed them down onto the woman's stall.

"There!" Hope shouted. "Now tell me how to get to Darkwater Crossing."

"Got a map?" The High Elf asked as she collected the coin in her hands.

Hope nodded and then dug through her pack, she pulled out her rolled up map and handed it to the High Elf.

The High Elf took it from Hope and unrolled it on the top of her stand. "Here's Windhelm." She pointed out with her finger touching the map. "After you cross the bridge and make it past the stables, take this road South." She moves her finger down the map. "You'll be on this road for a while, but eventually it'll split in two. So take this one, which will be on your right and if you keep on it you'll eventually come to the small village." She instructed.

Hope picked up the map and quickly memorized the directions that she had just given her. When she had the path glued to her brain, she rolled it back up and looked up at the High Elf. "Thanks."

"No problem." She replied while counting the new coin in her hand.

Hope rolled her eyes while turning away from the woman. She was about to walk away when the High Elf stopped her. "Hold a moment."

Hope slightly turned, looking at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Allow me to give a bit of advice for free." She said with a crooked smile.

Hope couldn't help but roll her eyes again as she indulged the woman.

"If I were you, I'd wait until tomorrow morning to leave."

"Why?" Hope asked.

"Because we usually get a nasty blizzard when night falls and by the way the sun is beginning to set. Well, I'd say it'd be here soon." She explained. "Just thought you should know since you're obviously new around here and all." She said with a shrug before turning away from Hope.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at the woman and then moved them up towards the sky. Just what seemed like moments ago when the sky was turning its usual red-orange. But now it had suddenly become crowded with heavy looking grey clouds. Hope had also noticed that she was getting hit with more cold wind than before when she first arrived. She didn't like the thought of spending the night in the city, but she really didn't like the thought of getting lost in a snow storm. So she chose the city. "Where's the inn?" She asked with her eyes going back to the woman.

The High Elf quickly pointed the way, not bothering to turn around and look at her again. Something told Hope that she was growing tired of her presence and she was fine with that because she too no longer wanted to spend another minute with the slimy, bartering High Elf.

It didn't take Hope long to find the Inn. The moment she opened the door and walked in, the smell of fresh mead and burning wood immediately hit her nostrils. The warmth and the scent of the Inn were both very welcoming. "Welcome to Candlehearth hall." Greeted the Inn keeper.

Hope quickly approached the Inn keeper with her hand already grabbing at her coin purse. "I'd like to get a room for the night."

"Ten gold." The Inn keeper told her.

Hope quickly dug out the exact amount from her coin purse and then handed it to the Inn keeper. "Your room is just down the hall to the left." The Inn keeper told her as she started to count the coin in the palm of her hand.

Hope nodded and quickly went her way towards the room. As she walked down the hall, she couldn't help but feel slightly excited. She's never stayed at an inn before, only worked at one and even though there wasn't much to the inn, it was still exciting and it made her feel like a real adventurer.

When she reached her room the door was already open, showing that it was vacant. At least that's what she hoped it was showing because she would feel really awkward if she laid down to sleep and a stranger came in to stay in the exact same room.

Hope walked into her room while shutting the door behind her. As she unlaced the cloaks strings around her neck, she looked around and examined the small room. To the far left of the room up against the wall was her bed, then right in front of her up against the wall was a set of drawers for placing cloths in, and on the far right of the room was a small desk with a few books stacked on it. It was a nice enough room to stay in for the night and it had a nice wooden smell to it. She had a feeling that she was going to sleep better in the room she rented than at the quarters back at Jorrvaskr, she didn't realize how much she longed for sleeping in her own room until now.

 _'The Circle members should feel lucky to have their own rooms...'_ She thought to herself as she draped her cloak over the chair that sat in front of the desk. She then started to wonder if the Circle members like Farkas and Vilkas ever shared a room with the others before. As she unstrapped her iron chest-piece, she couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Vilkas being cramped on one of the small beds that they force you to sleep on.

When she finally pulled the rest of her uncomfortable armor off, Hope immediately fell backwards onto her bed, not bothering to put any more cloths on other than the thin cotton shirt and brown leggings she wore underneath her heavy armor. A heavy exhausted sigh left her as she sunk down into the soft mattress. It was a welcome sensation, one she had forgot what felt like until now. She got so used to the hard beds at Jorrvaskr she forgot how nice a real one was.

She knew it wasn't that late yet and she knew she had yet to eat dinner, but she was tired and she felt like the moment she closed her eyes she was going to pass out. She needed to, especially after the long weeks it took her to reach Windhelm. Every time it was time to sleep when she was on the road, she either had to set up camp with the driver or sleep on the carriage floor while the driver kept going.

So at that moment, she didn't care that it wasn't that late, she didn't care that she had yet to eat, and she didn't care about the nerve wrecking job she was going to do the next day. All she cared about in that moment was closing her eyes and falling asleep. So, she closed her eyes and fell into a very deep sleep.

That night goes by fast, too fast for Hope's liking because when she opens her eyes she can't help but let out a groan while her body felt like it weighed over a thousand pounds. She slowly rolled over to her right side where she would be facing the desk on the other side of the room.

Another groan leaves her when her body finally reaches the side she wants to lay on. She tries to blink the tired out of her eyes by shutting them tightly and then opening them wide each time, but it doesn't work. In fact, it does the opposite because the longer she does that and the longer she lays there, she feels like she could close her eyes again and fall into another deep sleep that lasts for days.

But she doesn't, she forces herself to sit up and then slowly stand up to wobbly feet. She knew she was running late because of the smell of breakfast and sound of loud feet walking down the hallway. She wanted to leave before anyone else got up but her body supposedly had other plans. "Okay..." She sighed with a big yawn following afterwords. She shuffled her feet over to where she lay her armor and began to get dressed.

It takes her awhile to get back into her armor, with her tired limbs and muscles not wanting to cooperate. But when she finally does get dressed and gather all of her things together. She immediately heads to the Inn keepers bar where she has a plate full of fresh bread and sweet rolls set out. Hope bought a couple loafs of bread to wrap up for later and bought a sweet roll to eat on the road.

After placing the newly wrapped bread in her pack, Hope holds the entire sweet roll in her mouth while tying her cloak around her neck and then letting it drape over her like a blanket again. She then removes the sweet roll out of her mouth after taking a big bight and waves at the Inn keeper before leaving the Tavern.

She was pleased to find the sun shining in the sky that morning. Even though it was cold, it was still a welcoming sensation to feel its warmth on her face. She quickly walked over to the large gates and pushed them open while taking several bites out of her fresh sweet roll. The guards at the gates watched her walk by and then went back to spacing out towards the distance while she made her way down the bridge.

When she reached the end of the bridge and Windhelm's stables, she finishes whats left of her sweet roll and then pulls out her map to look at the route that the High Elf had given her yesterday. She remembered it pretty well and prayed to the gods that it didn't take her long to reach the small mining village. Then after she reaches it, she'll find someone to point her towards the cave she needed to go to.

Simple, it sounded very simple, but it didn't feel simple. Even though Hope had a good start to the day and a warm fresh breakfast. She felt off, she felt strange. Just something about the day felt weird...heavy. It was a feeling that weighed on her chest and made her feel like she wasn't taking enough breaths. One that made her feel like something was going to happen, but she didn't know what.

So, she ignores it and goes on her way because she needs to ignore it, she has to ignore it. She needs today to just be a simple day, a day she can complete in confidence and then go home to reveal that her first job as an official Companion was a success. She just...needed her life to go on as a simple warriors life with no complications, she didn't know if she could take any more of those.

But little did she know...that the gods had other plans.


	38. Chapter 38

With the sun now high in the sky, Darkwater Crossing finally comes into view down the road. A relieved sigh leaves Hope as she picks up the pace, eager to reach the small mining village. Since she turned down the turn off that the High Elf woman told her about, she felt like she had been on the road forever. So she couldn't feel more than relieved when she laid her eyes on the village.

When she enters the village, she only sees a couple of small houses sit by the road. On the far side of the village was the mine that everybody worked at and in front of it were a few miners sitting by a fire, taking a break. When they heard approaching footsteps, they all look up from their lunches and raise a suspicious eyebrow up at Hope.

"Excuse me." She cleared her throat. "I'm with the Companions and I've been hired to clear a cave near here. Do any of you know about it?" She asked.

The workers sitting around the fire all glance at each other, waiting for someone to speak up. "Aye." A man responded behind her. Hope turns around to face him with her eyebrows lifted, surprised by his sudden appearance. She examines the older looking man from his long gray hair to his dirty mining boots.

"I'm the one who sent for a Companion." He said with a nod. "I thought they'd send more than one though..." He admitted with his hand going to his long white beard. "Nope, just me." Hope replied with an awkward smile and shrug. "Hm..." He narrowed his eyes at her and examined her closely.

She watched his eyes examine the cloak that was draped around her and then move to the bow and bag of arrows that were tied to her back. "Tell me, you ever fight a troll before?"

A memory of the giant male troll that her, Vilkas, and Anoriath fought, came to her mind. "A bit...yeah." She said with a nod.

"You ever fight two trolls before?" He asked again.

"No..." Hope answered with her eyebrows knit together.

"How about three?" The old man asked with his arms crossing over his chest.

 _'Three?! There are three trolls to fight?!'_ Her stomach twists into sickening knots as the image of the horrid creatures comes to her mind.

"By the look on your face and the way your color just disappeared. I take that as a no." The old man said as he approached the fire and held his hands up above it. "I thought the Companions took their work seriously. So why would they send some girl who lacks experience?"

Hope quickly furrows her eyebrows down at him. Just because she's never really taken on a troll before doesn't mean she lacks in experience. The army of draugr and the bandits come to her mind when she thinks about it. "They wouldn't send me if they didn't think I could do it." She said, even though it sounded like she was saying it more for herself than the skeptical old man.

"Hmm.." He hummed as he continued to stare down at the dancing flames. "I suppose your right." He sighed.

She watched him rub his hands together quickly and then turn back around to face her. "The cave we need cleared out lies just East of our village." He slightly turns and points down a small dirt trail that led through a couple of more houses. "Take that trail and it'll lead you right to it. It lies on the side of the mountain, you can't miss it." He told her.

Hope nodded and began to walk by him, but before she could pass him he quickly grabs her arm to stop her. She looks at him with her eyebrows knit together. "Be warned girl." He said. "These trolls have killed five of us already, which means they have a taste for human blood now. That makes them more dangerous than the average troll, it makes them more savage, you understand?"

Hope eyed him for a moment, seeing the truth of it behind his eyes along with some of the fear. She gave him a slow nod as her own fear started to show in her eyes. The old man let go of her arm and watched her continue on down the trail he pointed out to her.

As Hope walked down the muddy path, her stomach churned and twisted into knots so tight she thought her insides just might pop. _'Three trolls...and to make matters worse they have a taste for human blood now...'_ She swallows a hard lump rising in her throat. When it goes down it makes her whole chest swell with pain.

Why would Skjor send her on such a job alone? He must of known the terms of it, he must of known that there would be three of them. Was this a test to see if she could do it? Another gods-forsaken test!?

 _'No.'_ She forces the negative thoughts from her mind. Skjor wouldn't of sent her here alone if he didn't think she could do it, Kodlak wouldn't of allowed him to if **he** didn't think she could do it. _"If you work every hard job that comes your way with help, how do you expect to grow?"_ Skjor's voice comes to head, for once it was Skjor's and not Aela's and he was right. She knew he was right. She's worked hard jobs before but with the help of someone and this job was no different than the others, she was just...alone.

 _'I can do it.'_ She can do it. She knows she can.

But if she knows she can and if she knows Skjor is right, then why does she have this growing fear inside her when she reaches the cave?

She stares at the gaping mouth of the cave, only being able to see a foot inside it until darkness takes over. It looked deep and bigger than the last cave she was in when she faced that male troll. _'You can do it.'_ She tells herself, but she doesn't move. _'Just go in there and do it.'_ Her legs are frozen and refuse to budge, as if frost from the mountains seeped into her bones and froze her joints together.

 _'You've taken out bandits, draugr, and Silver Hand. You can take out three trolls...'_ She tells herself, trying to force herself to gain some courage and step into the cave. But a low growl coming from the depths of the cave sends shivers down her spine and makes her stomach feel sick.

"Okay..." She breaths. "Okay." She repeats with her eyes falling shut. She inhales deeply and then exhales just as deeply. _'Just go in there...'_ Finally, she's able to take a step forward and then another one and then another one. She keeps going until she's too far into the cave to turn around, fear stirred inside the pit of her stomach and started to rise to her throat. But she forced it back down and forced herself to keep going.

The cave stretches for a long ways with her only light source being cracks in its ceiling. The farther she walks into the cave, the more she can hear the growls and grunts from the trolls. Her stomach continues to churn and her heart races in her chest, the fear inside her begs her to turn around and forget the job, but she doesn't, she can't! So she keeps going.

She spots a large opening several feet away. She quickly crouches down and approaches the opening while moving on the balls of her feet. Her training with Aela taught her to be fast and quiet and at the moment she thanked the gods for that training because when she reached the large opening, the first thing she saw was a giant troll, sleeping.

She quickly moves to a large rock to hide behind and peeks out at the slumbering troll. It was laying on a bed made of dirt and grass. Hope squints her eyes at it, seeing something strange laying next to it. She narrows her eyes at it for a moment before they widen with horror. The strange item laying next to the troll was a torn limp. An arm to be exact...and it looked fresh.

Her eyes quickly move to the head of the troll and the fur surrounding its mouth was speckled with fresh blood. Could it be another villager, fallen victim to the trolls again? Or maybe it was just an unlucky passing traveler, come across the trolls den. Either way, Hope needed to put an end to the beasts. She was well aware of that now. Because just like any other animal, once human blood hits their mouths for the first time they never crave anything else again. Just human flesh.

The fear that plagued her mind just moments ago disappears, leaving only the safety of the villagers and anyone who was unlucky enough to pass by this cave, remain.

Hope slowly pulls out her bow along with an arrow, keeping her eyes on the sleeping troll. It lets out a puff of air as it shifts around to a better sleeping position. Having a full belly must of really tired it out...

Hope slowly moves her eyes around the large open cavern. Seeing if any of the other trolls were around, and they weren't. Just the one was in there. Hope slowly knocks back her arrow on the string of her bow and aims it directly at the head of the troll. This one was much smaller than the last one she ran into, so she was confident that if she hit it in the right spot, she could take it out with a single shot.

She takes steady breaths as she looks down the shaft of her arrow and then towards the head of the troll. She holds her breath for a moment, feeling her heart beat against her chest and then releases the arrow. She watches it fly low and then land right in the trolls skull. The room quickly fell silent as the troll stayed laying still on the ground. Hope blinked as she slowly stood up from her spot, she was sure that the troll was dead but...she wasn't really sure...

She slowly and quietly approaches the troll and relief hits her like a wall when she sees its blood running out of the back of its skull. She couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself in that moment, with being able to take out the first troll with one arrow and all.

She bends down and takes a hold of the arrow that stuck out of its head. She grips it tight and then yanks it out. She frowns when she sees that the tip of it broke off and stayed inside the skull of the troll. She figured as much as she threw the broken arrow behind her.

Hope steps over the trolls corpse and looks around the cavern, trying to find another opening to lead deeper into the mountain, but she doesn't find one. This cavern was the only one and it was the end of the cave. _'I thought he said there were three of them...'_ She wondered as she looked back down at the lifeless troll's body. ' _Was he wrong and this one was the only one?'_

That question was soon answered when a deep growl, like thunder rumbled from behind her. Hope's heart stopped in her chest and her eyes widened with fear as hot puffs of air hit the top of her head. She slowly turned around and found two angry trolls standing right behind her, one with a corpse so maimed in its hand that it was unrecognizable.

With blood dripping from its mouth, the troll closest to her puffed out its chest and then roared so loudly that parts of the ceiling of the cave crumbled. The one behind it quickly threw the corpse right at Hope but luckily, she was able to jump out of the way and dodge it right on time.

Because she had to jump out of the way so fast, she ended up stumbling and tripping over her feet, causing her body to hit the ground hard. After quickly regaining herself, she sits up and looks back at the freshly eaten corpse on the ground, watching blood spill and pool beneath it. If she didn't have to run for her life in that moment, she would of probably been sick right on the spot.

Hope quickly scrambles away from the corpse and gets up to her feet, making as much distance as she could between her and the two raging trolls. One of them jumps high in the air and over her, landing right in front of her. An uncontrollable scream escapes from her as her feet come to a skidding stop. She quickly turns to run in the opposite direction but the second troll is already behind her, trapping her between them.

She looks back and forth at them both while trying to think of a way to escape. _'Okay, I'm going to need my sword.'_ She quickly realizes as she grabs for it. But there was nothing there, just empty space. She grabs at the air again thinking she missed, but it really was gone.

Her heart drops and the knots in her gut tightens as she comes to realize, she no longer has a sword. The image of its cracked blade lying on the dirty ground at the ruins flashes in her mind. She left it behind because it was broken, she left it behind because she was going to buy a new one...but she forgot to buy a new one, she forgot to bring one! She didn't even bring a dagger for gods sake!

She grabs her heart as panic takes over her body. The complete realization of her situation has changed the course of her mind, making it to where all she could think about was running away and getting out alive.

If that was even possible.

Suddenly, the troll from behind launches at Hope with its claws slashing side ways. She quickly ducks and then jumps to the side, out of its path. She moved so fast that it had little time to control where it was going and ended up slashing its claws across the other trolls chest. The troll let out a howl of pain before hitting the other troll on the side of the head with its hand so hard it fell to the ground.

Hope's eyes were wide as she watched the troll whimper and scoot away from the more dominant one. She looked to its fresh wound and prayed that it was enough to slow it down or maybe even kill it. But it wasn't. The hide on the trolls chest was so thick that it barely bled. _'Gods.'_

And to think, just moments ago Hope was feeling so sure of herself all because she was able to kill the last troll with only an arrow. Something told her it was going to take more than that with these two because in comparison, they were much larger. Her eyes fell to the dead troll on the ground and the moment they did, realization came to her like a punch to the stomach.

She didn't see it before because she had non other to compare it to and before it still seemed big to her. But now that she sees it near the other two, it was small...much smaller...it was a baby, she just killed the baby of the group! When their eyes fell upon her, it wasn't hunger that glowed in them. It was anger and rage, it was want for revenge.

Hope slowly backed away as the two neared her, with their long arms picking up their body's and moving them forward. They both split, trying to corner her between them again. But she won't let them.

Without any hesitation, Hope bolts. Sprinting right for the exit. They both let out a roar so great that she felt like the ground beneath her feet shook, or maybe it was just the panic inside her messing with her brain. Either way, she wasn't going to wait around to find out which one it was.

The two trolls lung at the back of her, swinging their arms in all kinds of directions. But Hope keeps a head of them, with her head down and her body ducking to dodge their flailing limbs. They let out growls and roars of frustration as Hope dodged their attacks and just kept running.

As she ran through the opening and into the passage that led to the exit, she could feel rubble from the ceiling hit the top of her head caused by the trolls crashing through the opening and clumsily running through the narrow passage. They both kept trying to pass each other, but it just wasn't wide enough for them both to run through side by side. So they just crashed into each other and then crashed into the wall of the cave, causing it to shake and the ceiling above them crumble.

The memory of the collapsing cave that she barely escaped with Anoriath and Vilkas flashed in her mind. She remembered feeling the very ceiling fall behind her and hit the heels of her boots. The vivid memory made her feel like something like that was going to happen again, so she picks up the pace and doesn't dare move her eyes away from the exit she longed for that was still far in the distance.

The more dominant troll shoved the smaller one behind it before lunging forward with force so great that landed right behind Hope, making the ground shake and her stumble forward. She struggled to gain back her footing, especially since the troll kept swinging its arms at her head every time she stood back up. She eventually has to just lung herself forward, away from the troll.

She scrambles forward with her fingers digging into the ground of the cave as she desperately tries to get away. Meanwhile, the troll continues to lung and swing its arms in every direction it can. Every time it misses her, it hits the wall of the cave causing it to shake and crumble even more.

Hope stumbles forward one last time until she finally reaches the end of the cave. The troll lunges at Hope again, grabbing at her but it misses just by an inch and just like that, she was finally out and away from the grabbing claws of the troll.

Her heart slams against her chest as her lungs scream for air. She turns to look at the opening cave with her chest rising and falling rapidly. She was taking in so much air at once her head was beginning to feel light.

The darkness in the cave seemed to loom and the sudden silence around her was eerie, and she didn't like it. Slowly, she steps away from the cave. Her feet carefully step over each other as she keeps her eyes on the gaping mouth of the cave.

Then suddenly, the large troll crashes out of the cave with dirt and rocks following after it. Her eyes widen, but not at the creature that wanted her head. Her eyes widened at the cave behind it, at the deep cracks suddenly forming on the top of its opening; and then just like that, the cave collapses. Sending the large troll falling forward and forcing Hope to quickly get down and cover her head so that dust doesn't get into her lungs and flying rocks don't hit her on the head.

The ground shakes beneath Hope's feet as some of the mountain comes crashing down along with the cave. She can feel small rocks hit her arms and back, making her wince each time. Even though her head was down and covered by her arms, dust and dirt still seeped through her nostrils and spilled into her lungs; causing her to choke and gag.

Finally when it's over, Hope slowly stands back up to her feet with her hand waving around in front of her, moving the remaining dust in the air away from her. She coughs and squints her eyes through floating debris. Her eyes quickly widen when she sees the state of the cave, and the troll.

The very side of the mountain that sat above the cave collapsed and landed right on the troll. Well, landed on half of the troll because it was still alive with its head up and an arm reaching out towards Hope. She cringed when she saw blood running out of its mouth and heard a gargled growl escape its throat. It tried to growl again as it clawed the air towards her, but all that came from its mouth was more blood. The creature was dying a slow death and it didn't even know it. She needed to put it out of its misery.

Hope slowly approaches the dying troll, but is careful to not get too close. She reaches back for her bow but ends up just grabbing at air just like she did when she reached for her sword. Her eyebrows quickly furrow as she grabs at her back, trying to find it but it was gone. Her eyes immediately go the collapsed entrance of the cave, she must of dropped her bow inside when she was running. "Great." She sighed with her hand moving loose strands of her hair out of her face.

She looks back down at the troll and sees that a puddle of blood had began to form beneath its head. She watched its movements get slower and slower, its arm slowly moving closer to the ground each time it reached for her.

She sighs heavily as she reaches into her bag of arrows and pulls out a single arrow. She at least didn't drop that. She walked around to the side of the troll and examined its head closely, she was looking for a soft spot and it was difficult because everytime she moved, the trolls head moved. She had no choice but to kick the side of its head with her boot and when she did, it whimpered in pain and laid its head down, suddenly no longer wanting to fight. "Sorry..." She apologizes without thinking.

She carefully places a knee on the arm of the troll so that it could no longer reach for her. She then examined its head closely and saw what looked like a soft spot on its temple. She held the arrow up high in the air, but before she plunged it into its skull she decided to get a good look at it first. She'd never got the chance to look at troll this close before and she knew she probably wouldn't get another one. She didn't look at it too long though, she didn't like watching it suffer even though it nearly killed her inside the cave. So, without any hesitation she stabs her arrow right into the side of its head. Ending its life and suffering quickly. The feeling of her arrow sinking down into its head made her shiver and quickly let go.

Deciding to leave her arrow where it was, Hope slowly gets back to her feet and stumbles away from the dead troll. Pain and exhaustion hit her all at once, making her knees shake and arms tremble. She was ready to go back home even if that meant getting an earful because she lost her bow and forgot a sword...

The job was completed though, even though she didn't really fight the trolls... _'It still counts.'_ She decided with her eyes looking back to the collapsed cave one last time. With nothing else needed to be done, Hope turns and slowly walks away with every muscle in her body punishing her with pain for the stupidity she showed that day.

Hope walked down the dirt trail with her cloak now taken off and being used as a rag to wipe dirt off of her face. She tried to use it to shake the dirt and dust out of her hair but all it really did was give her nasty tangles. She coughed dust out of her lungs as she began to shake her cloak out. Trying to free it from the dirt caked onto it but it seemed no matter how hard she shook it, only little pieces would fall off. The only way she was going to get it off was to either hang it up and beat it or wash it off completely in a river.

Hope comes to stop and focuses on her cloak for a moment, picking the dirt off it. She needed a break from walking anyways, the muscles in her legs were screaming at her for it. She looks up from her cloak and finds a rock to sit on. She quickly walks to the rock and slowly sat down on the top of it with a huge sigh of relief escaping her.

She set her cloak down on the ground next to her and then leaned back with her legs stretching out in front of her. It felt good to stretch the muscles and rub the tops of them. She knew she was going to feel the effects of this job for days to come.

 _ **SNAP!**_ A nearby branch breaks, making Hope become instantly alert. She sits up straight and looks around with wide eyes, feeling her heart beat start to quicken. Was it another troll? Was it something worse? Did the troll come back from the dead and manage to crawl out from the rubble to seek her out revenge?

 _'No that's silly.'_

Hope blinks as she slowly looks down at the ground. _'Calm down Hope, it was probably just a rabbit or deer...'_ She told herself as she took in steady breaths of air.

 _ **SNAP!**_ Another twig breaks closer this time and then another one and then another one. More and more keeping breaking all around her and when she realizes just what was going on, it was too late.

"Stay where you are!" Shouted a stranger, making Hope quickly jump up from the rock and look all around her. "Don't move!" Another shouted and then all at once, Imperial soldiers came charging through the trees. Making Hope, suddenly surrounded.

Her eyes are wide as she looks at them all, she slowly raises a hand up in the air to try and show them that she means no harm; but it did just the opposite. "I said don't move!" One shouted again with his bow quickly aimed for her head. _'What in Oblivion!?'_

"Hang on! Just let me-"

"Be quiet!" One of them shouted, making her wince.

"I'm trying to-"

"By the gods if you don't be quiet I will shoot you down!"

What is happening? Why won't they let her speak? Why are they treating her like she's some kind of criminal? The questions flooded her mind as panic flooded her body. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what she could do! She was completely surrounded and any attempts of escape would certainly fail.

"So is this some sort of poor plan of yours to escape?" One asked.

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him, not knowing what he meant.

"You decide to be a coward and quickly change in the woods while your Stormcloak brothers are being binded? Gods, I always knew you Stormcloaks were only talk."

 _'Hang on, Stormcloak!?'_ How could they come up with that assumption by finding her in the woods like this? Just how did that make any sense to them.

"Did you really think it would work?" One questioned with disgust showing in his voice. "We saw you run away once we captured your **leader**."

"So just who did you kill and rob to get that poor excuse of armor? Huh?" Another asked as they all began to close in on her.

"You have me confused with someone else! I'm not a soldier of any kind, I'm just a Companion!" Hope shouted, desperation showing greatly in her voice.

The soldiers all snort and laugh at her, not one believing the words that left her mouth.

"If you come peacefully without a fight, we'll take you back to the Captian and let you tell him your story. See if he believes you." One said, with a smirk on his face as if he already knew what was going to happen.

Hope blinked at him and then looked around at the surrounding soldiers once more, again seeing no ways of escape. She had no choice but to go with them and pray that the said Captain would believe her.

After giving him a nod, he and another soldier rush over and quickly grab her wrists, making her place her arms behind her back. They both quickly push her forward, forcing her to keep her arms behind her.

The two soldiers along with the rest of the soldiers, walk Hope through the forest and away from the direction she was heading in. _'Just how far away is there Captain?'_ She wondered. He couldn't of been very far from them, otherwise the soliders wouldn't of just run into Hope like that.

At first Hope counted their steps through the forest, but after walking for a while she stopped counting and only focused on what might happen next.

"We're almost there." One of the soldiers that had a hold on Hope said.

Hope's stomach twisted into tight knots, she felt more nervous than she did when she first came across the trolls cave.

One of the soldiers from behind quickly walks a head of them. Hope watches him disappear behind some forest brush and then heard. "Sir! We found the escapee!"

Soon Hope was brought through the same forest brush, being forced to walk through tall bushes and get scratched by loose branches. The sting on her skin from the fresh cuts were nothing compared to what was going to happen next.

She's quickly halted to a hard stop, being pulled back roughly by the soldiers. In front of her, on a stone road was a large carriage and on it; were prisoners, Stormcloak prisoners.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down as she stared at them all, bound and beaten up like lesser dogs. One of them slowly looks up and meets her eyes. She couldn't believe it, it was Ulfric Stormcloak. He was bleeding from the head and had a cloth tightly wrapped around his mouth. She examined the fresh bruise swelling under one of his eyes and saw that he was just as surprised to see her.

"Who's this? This doesn't look like the escapee." Stated an Imperial soldier, one that looked less fierce and forceful than the ones behind her. He stepped forward and examined her closely. "That's because she killed some poor fool and changed her armor before we could catch her." One explained.

"I did not!" Hope shouted as she tried to pull her arms free but the soldiers holding them down tightened their grip, pulling her back towards them.

"Did you see a body?" The soldier questioned with his eyes going to the two that were holding her.

"No, but we didn't need to see one. Just look at her, it's clear she just got out of a loosing battle." One said.

The soldier in front of Hope looked back at her as he placed a hand on his forehead, she could see disbelief in his eyes and that sparked a little hope inside of her.

"I believe them." A different voice spoke up from behind the carriage, quickly putting out that spark that ignited inside of her.

It came from another soldier, but one with fancier looking Imperial armor. If she had to guess, she'd guess that he was the Captain that they spoke of. "Step aside Hadvar." He said as he approached Hope.

Hope's eyebrows pinched together as she watched him lean towards her and examine her closely from head to toe. A smirk slowly formed on his face before he stood up straight and placed his hands behind his back. "Yep, that's the one alright. Has Stormcloak dog written all over her."

Hope's heart dropped as did her jaw. How could he just assume like that!? He didn't even giver her a chance to explain what happened!

"I'm not Stormcloak! I'm not any kind of soldier!" She suddenly screamed, making the soldiers behind her jump. "I'm with the Companions! I was doing a job for them near Darkwater Crossing!" She quickly explained as her heart beat hard against her chest.

"Oh really!" The Captain laughed. "If you're a Companion then do tell, what job were you exactly doing?" He questioned with a tilt to his head and a crooked smirk on his face.

"I was sent here to take out a few trolls from a nearby cave. If you just go to the village I'm sure they would-"

"Ha!" The Captain laughed out loudly, cutting Hope off. "Trolls!? Is that so!?" He laughed more, making the soldiers behind Hope chuckle. "Just how many were there?" He questioned with mockery showing in his voice.

Hope balled up her fists as she clenched her jaw. "Three." She told him through clenched teeth.

"Three she says!" He laughs more. "Three trolls, you!? Look at you, I bet you couldn't even kill one of my soldiers before you ran off like a dog with your tail between your legs." He mocked some more, making the very blood in Hope's veins boil.

"I'm telling you the truth!" She shouted, this time out of anger than out of desperation. "If you don't believe me than you're just as stupid as the troll that got itself killed!" She snarled.

Suddenly the Captain was right in front of Hope again, with his arm extended and his hand gripping her jaw tightly. "Watch your mouth harlot, don't think I won't cut you down where you stand." He said with his eyes burning into hers.

Hope glared at him fiercely so that her eyes burned right through his. "Then do it." She said, her voice low sounding almost like a growl.

"Sir!" The one he called Hadvar spoke up. He quickly stepped forward and almost looked like he wanted to get between her and the Captain, but he didn't. "That's not necessary." He told him.

"Back off soldier." The Captain ordered, making Hadvar quickly back away with his head down. His eyes remained on Hope's for a moment longer before they trailed down her face and landed on her chest.

The sunlight beaming through the trees seemed to hit Hope's mother's necklace just right, immediately catching the eye of Captain. "Huh..." He slowly brought his hand down to the necklace and ran his finger over the sparkling jewel. "Beautiful necklace." He muttered before ripping it right off of her neck.

"No!" Hope screamed, suddenly lunging forward. The soldiers holding her back had to act quickly, but it wasn't enough. The moment they pulled her back she slammed the back of her head into one of their noses, making him let go and back away from her. The other one tried to grab both of her arms but she was able to rip her arm from him before he could and spin around, landing a knee right in his gut.

When he fell forward Hope bashed the top of her knee right into his face, sending him falling back with his own broken nose. She quickly turned around and tried to go straight for the Captain but two more soldiers came at her side.

She dodged one's fist and hurled herself into his lower gut head first, knocking the air out of him. He fell to the ground hard with Hope right on him. She gave him a fast and hard punch to the face and then got back up to her feet with the other soldiers fist landing on the side of her jaw.

Her head snapped side ways from the force of the punch but she was still on her feet. She quickly turned her head back to the soldier and immediately kicked him in the groin hard with her large boot.

"Oh!" She heard one of the Stormcloak soldiers shout, as if he felt that himself.

Before the Imperial she just kicked in the crotch could fall completely to the ground, she grabbed the shield from his arm and slipped it off as he fell. She bashed that shield into a soldier's face who was running at her and then threw it hard at the Captain that was trying to get away.

The shield hit him on the back, making him land face first in the dirt. The moment he spun around Hope was on top of him and she already had her fist held back to meet his nose and maybe one of his eyes.

She should of ran when she took out the last few soldiers, she should of escaped by now. But she didn't, all she could see was red and because of that all clear thinking had escaped her mind.

She was able to land a hard punch to the Captains face, making his head ricochet back and hit the ground hard. She raised her fist for another but soon found a pare of strong arms wrap around her. One around her chest with her arm stuck between it and the other around her throat, clenching tightly around it. Hope gagged as she tried to break free of the choke hold, but she couldn't. All she could do was kick as she was dragged back off of the Captains body.

The large muscle around her throat had such a tight hold she felt like her neck was going to break. She struggled more with her body thrashing side ways but the hold was too tight and now all she could do was slowly fall limp as her vision blackened. "I'm sorry..." Breathed a kind voice into ear before everything fell dark.


	39. Chapter 39

**Hey guys sorry for the late update! This chapter ended up being pretty long and it got late last night, sorry ^^". Thank you guys for reading I hope you enjoy! 3**

* * *

 _ **THUD!**_ The carriage hits a large rock on the road, making Hope startle awake from being slightly lifted in the air. After her heart calms down in her chest, she blinks a few times, regaining herself. It takes her a good moment before realizing that she was laying down on the bench of a carriage.

A gasp leaves her as she quickly sits up and looks behind her at the moving scenery. "About time you wake up." Said an unfamiliar voice across from her. Hope looks back and sees a Stormcloak soldier sitting on the seat across from her. He gave her a small half-smile when she looked at him.

She stares at him for a moment with wide eyes, trying to remember what happened. It all comes back to her like a punch to the stomach. She remembers seeing red and remembers feeling her lungs tighten and scream for oxygen.

With the very fresh memory coming back to her, she tries to reach up to touch where she was punched in the jaw but something stops her hand. She furrows her eyebrows and quickly looks down, finding that her wrists were boung together by a rope. "Wha..what?" She whispers out-loud as she tries to pull a hand free from the ropes grasp, but it was no use, the rope tightly wound around her wrists refused to let her go.

"You're not surprised are you?" The Stormcloak questioned with a cocked eyebrow. Hope quickly looks up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "After what you did, I'm surprised they didn't kill you on the spot." He chuckled. "And honestly? I'm surprised that you didn't kill any of **them** on the spot. With the way you went at them like a feral Forsworn and everything." He said with another chuckle.

Hope quickly looks away from him with her fists clenched tightly. "Just because they were stupid doesn't mean they deserved to die..." She muttered.

"Says you." He replied, making Hope quickly look back at him with a frown.

She looked him up and down before wrinkling her nose up and replying. "Typical, coming from a Stormcloak."

He stared at her for a moment before letting out another small chuckle in response.

Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him and then turned her head in the direction they were going in. She was surprised to see several other carriages moving along in front of them, she didn't remember seeing them when the Imperiels who ambushed her took her to their... **Captain**.

The thought of him made Hope's blood boil, but also thinking about him made her quickly bring her bound hands up to her chest. When she only felt the cold iron of her chest-piece beneath her fingers, her heart dropped and she wanted to cry. Her mother's necklace, the only thing she had left of her was gone. Taken by **him**.

 _'If I ever get free I'm going to bash his face in with his own shield...'_ She thought to herself with her teeth angrily gritting against each other.

"So tell me." The Stormcloak speaks up again, making Hope look at him. "Are you really a Companion?" He asked.

"I am." She replied.

"Did you really take out three trolls?" He asked with a half-smile.

"One...the cave took out the other two." She answered, showing a bit of her embarrassment in the back of her throat.

"Honesty, nothing wrong with that." He said with a smile.

"So Companion, do you have a name?" He asked.

Hope blinked at him for a moment, pondering whether to tell him her real name or not.

"Liah?" A familiar voice spoke up nearby, already deciding for her.

Hope quickly furrows her eyebrows and shifts her eyes to whoever just spoke. When her eyes fall on him, they widened in shock and disbelief. "Lokir?" She couldn't believe her eyes. She examined him closely, from his dirty rags of clothing to his dirt crusted hair. "What in Oblivion are you doing here?" She questioned, showing bewilderment in her voice.

"Oh you know, just thought I could catch a ride." He smarted off, making Hope wrinkle her nose up at him. "What do you think!?" He exclaimed.

"I got caught just like you! Wrong place, wrong time." He sighed.

"I didn't see you when they brought me to the carriage." Hope said with her eyes still staring at the dirt caked in his hair.

"That's because he was caught just a little after you were." Spoke up the Stormcloak soldier. "Stole a horse, can you believe it!" He laughed.

"Shut up!" Lokir snapped. "I would of been half way to Hammerfell by now if wasn't for you damn Stormcloaks!"

The Stormcloak lifted an eyebrow up at him with a smirk on his face. Lokir glared at him for a moment before turning back to Hope. "After they bound my wrists and put me on this damn carriage, I noticed you but didn't realize it was you. Didn't even realize it was you when you first woke up..."

Hope blinked at him not really hearing what he was saying because of a question floating around in her mind. "Hammerfell?" She questioned, making him furrow his eyebrows. "Did you owe more money to those skooma dealers or something?" She questioned with her nose wrinkled.

"Not as much as your father owed Mralki for all the mead he drank after you left." Lokir snapped making Hope wince, like he had plunged a blade into her heart. "Yeah, that's right." He scoffed. "Your old man was wreck after you disappeared, the very next day he drank so much he could barely lift his head off the table."

"Shut up." Hope snapped. "You're lying."

"Am I? Don't tell me you've already forgotten how your father always left you alone to take care of your little sisters while he drank away a sorrow that happened years ago."

"Shut up!" Hope shouted with her fists clenching tightly.

"Never thought it was the Companions you ran off to though, but I can see that it didn't work out." He kept going, making Hope's insides boil. "When you think about it, the Imperials are really doing them a favor by taking your worthless hide away."

That was it, that did it. If Hope ever did have any restraint inside her, she wouldn't of known it now. Because now she was standing up with Lokir's collar bound up in her fists. She yanked his face up with her bound hands to hers and even showed him a little teeth. "I said shut up." She said in a whisper that was barely audible.

Lokir looked up at her with wide eyes and it pleased Hope to see a little fear in them. He certainly wasn't expecting her to lung like that. "If I were you horse thief, I'd do what she says." Said the Stormcloak soldier, not bothering to hide his amusement.

"Hey! Sit back down!" Shouted the Imperial soldier that was driving the carriage. Hope quickly looked at him and met the glare in his eyes. She noticed that their carriage slowed down and lagged behind the others that were in front of them. If she could get him to slow down the carriage, maybe Hope could get him to stop it completely. She could take him out, he was only one soldier.

"Don't do it." The Stormcloak told her in a hushed whisper. Hope shifted her eyes to him and saw that he could see in her eyes what she wanted to do. "Look behind you." He whispered again.

Hope stared at him for a moment longer before slightly turning her head and seeing another Imperial soldier following behind them on a horse with another carriage following behind him. "You can't take them all on." He told her. "I said sit down!" The Imperial shouted again, now with one hand going to his sheathed blade. When he did so she saw the Imperial soldier on horse back behind them rest his hand on the hilt of his blade with his eyes immediately meeting Hope's.

"Tch." She clicked her tongue before shoving Lokir away from her and angrily sitting back down.

Lokir shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he rubbed his neck where Hope's nails scratched him before her fingers balled up the collar of his shirt. "You've really changed haven't you, Liah? I guess that whole innocent waitress part of you was just an act huh? Poor Erik."

Hope quickly flashed him another glare, making him back down and move his eyes to the floor of the carriage. "Why are you still talking?" The Stormcloak laughed out, making a glare appear in Lokir's eyes and mumble something under his breath.

As Hope watched Lokir cower away from her and the Stormcloak, she felt a set of eyes on her. The feeling was so strong she couldn't help but turn her head and look to see who it was; and it was Ulfric.

Hope's eyes widened when she met his, she had almost completely forgotten about him until now. She examined the dried blood trail leaving his forehead and the dirt dusted onto his skin. She looked into his blue eyes and saw how tired he looked, how beaten he had almost become; **almost**. He may have been gagged, bound, and wounded, but some how the man still showed some dignity by sitting up straight in his seat, showing no fear of what was to come.

But what was to come? She now wondered. Her eyes slowly left Ulfric's and met with the rope that bound her wrists together tightly. Underneath the rope she could see burns start to form from where the rope rubbed her skin raw.

She clenched her jaw as she clenched her fists tightly. She feels her insides start to twist into hard knots and her chest tighten with panic rising in her body. It felt like a great pressure that started from the pit of her stomach and ended at the back of her throat. Then all of a sudden she felt like she could no longer breath, no, she felt like she was going to be sick or maybe it was both. She didn't know and she didn't know how she was going to get out of this mess.

With out thinking, she starts to move her wrists under the rope. First she tries to pull one free, then she tries to grab the knot with her fingers thinking she might be able to untie it, but then she realizes that was stupid and began to use her teeth. Which was also stupid because in the end all it did was hurt her teeth and cause her to bite her own tongue.

The muscle started to swell in her mouth as she slowly lowered her wrists back down into her lap. She looked down at the carriages floor with wide eyes, completely out of ideas on what to do (if she ever had any beside hurting her teeth and biting her tongue.)

With a shaky sigh leaving her, Hope lifts her bound hands up to her head and rubs her forehead with one of them. _'Gods...I don't know what to do...I don't know what's going to happen.'_ And that killed her. Not knowing what was coming, not knowing what her fate was going to be at the end of it really got to her and it made the panic along with anxiety inside of her only get worse.

"Panicking will only make it worse." The Stormcloak soldier spoke softly, making Hope bring her eyes back to him.

She stared at him for a moment before giving him an annoyed look. "I'm not panicking." She told him, but who was she kidding? Of course she was panicking, but she wasn't going to let him know that. She wasn't going to let the Imperial bastard driving the carriage know that.

The soldier only gave her a small smile in response, she knew he didn't believe her but he wasn't going to argue. "It's written all over your face..." Lokir muttered, making Hope and the Stormcloak both quickly look at him.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down and with out warning, gave him a hard kick to the shin while almost kicking Ulfric in the process, but she didn't care. All she cared about was the yelp that left Lokir's throat and the lesson to keep his mouth shut hopefully go through his head.

Hours pass, or has it been days? Because it felt like it had been days since Hope woke up on the back of the carriage. With how slow it moved behind the others it mine-as-well have been days. And watching the sun slowly move from the middle of the sky to the very peaks of the mountains around them wasn't helping.

Only silence filled the air between her and the other prisoners. She would occasionally look to Lokir and every time she did he would have his head down and his eyes looking away. Even though she couldn't see a lot of his face, she could see his own panic in his eyes. Just like her, he didn't know what was going to happen. Something that they didn't share with the other two that were on the carriage.

The Stormcloak soldier (whose name she had yet to learn) and Ulfric kept both of their eyes down. Both thinking about what was going come, both of them thinking about what Hope wanted to ask but was too afraid to ask. She didn't want to know because in the back of her head, she already knew. Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion had been captured, anyone with a brain could figure out what was going to happen next. But that didn't mean that was going to happen to Hope, right?

Not all Imperial soldiers are brainless like the Captain and his men right? Someone had to have enough common sense to know, to **see** that Hope didn't belong with them. At least she hoped so, because otherwise she was going to be in a lot of trouble and that was something she couldn't think about or the panic that was settled inside her would rise again and show the others that instead of being a warrior, she was really just a scared little girl hiding behind a dented iron chest-piece.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Lokir asked, breaking the silence that sat between them. "I don't know." Sighed the Stormcloak soldier. "But Sovngarde awaits..."

The moment those words leave his mouth, the color from Lokir's face fades as does Hope's. Does he really think that they're going to be killed? Gods of course they were, Ulfric Stormcloak was with them for crying out-loud.

"General Tullius sir!" Shouted a soldier in the distance. Hope furrowed her eyebrows and looked up, she was surprised to see that General Tullius was at the front of their line on a horse. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed him before. She was so distracted by that, she nearly missed the giant wooden gates opening for them a distance away.

Hope knit her eyebrows together as she saw soldiers lining the road next to the gate with their weapons drawn. Their eyes landing on the Stormcloak soldiers with hatred poring from them. "Where are we?" Hope wondered out-loud.

The Stormcloak moved his eyes to her and then sat himself up to see. His brow quickly furrowed. "Helgen?" It was more of a question than an answer.

"The headsman is waiting sir!" The soldier that shouted before shouted again. _'Headsmen?!'_ Hope's heart started to race, slamming itself against her heart. "Good, lets get this over with." She heard Tullius reply.

"Headsman in Helgen?" The soldier wondered. "I guess the Empire is too lazy to give us a right excution. Typical." He said with a scoff.

 _'That's whats bothering him!?'_ Who cares where they taking them for it! They should know better than to execute Hope, at least she hoped so. Gods she prayed so.

She eyed the soldiers that lined the road as they passed by and then moved her eyes to the gate that soon closes after the last carriage passes through. She feels her throat tighten with a knot trying its best to rise inside it as she watches her only escape close shut behind them.

"Look at him." The Stormcloak soldier scoffed. Hope moved her eyes to him and then moved them to where he was looking. "General Tullius and the Thalmor are with him."

Hope's eyes moved to the Thalmor that sat proudly on the back of a horse. Her eyes were only on Ulfric and it seemed she could care less about the rest of the prisoners. Hope watched a wicked smile spread across her face as their carriage passed by. "Damn elves." The soldier spat. "I bet they had something to do with this."

"Wow look at all of the soldiers!" A little boy shouted. Hope turned her head and saw a small family sitting on their porch, watching their carriage pass by. "What do think they're doing here daddy?" He asked with his head turning to his father.

His father examined their carriage for a moment, examining Ulfric tied up and gagged. "You need to go inside little cub." He said with his eyes going back down to his son.

"Huh?" The little boy questioned with his head tilted. "Why? I want to watch the soldiers." He whined. _'Yeah, why does he need to go inside?!'_ Hope panicked even though she already knew the answer to that.

Hope watched his father take a step towards him and cross his arms. "You need to go inside, now." He said in more of a stern voice.

The little boy let out a small sigh as he got up and did what he was told.

 _'Gods...'_ Hope slowly leaned over with her fists clenched and her head bowed. She had to clench her eyes tightly to stop the tears from forming. _'Gods...please help me.'_

 _'Pathetic.'_ A voice inside told her. _'You're pathetic, praying to the gods like a scared child in the dark.'_ Her throat muscles tightened more as her stomach churned. She could feel her mouth start to water, the first sign of when one gets sick. _'Gods...what do I do? How do I get out of this?'_

"So tell me thief." The Stormcloak soldier spoke, making Hope slowly look back up. Lokir lifts his own head and looks at him with dread in his eyes. "Where are you from?"

Lokir quickly scoffed at him in response. "Why do you care?"

"A Nords last thoughts should be of home." He replied with a sofr smile.

Lokir looked a bit shocked by that, he stares at him for a moment longer before answering. "Rorikstead...I'm from Rorikstead." He told him.

 _'Rorikstead.'_ Immediately, the image of her family floods her mind, making her heart shatter into little pieces. Just what would they think if they never heard from her again? Hope's heart dropped as her chest painfully tightened. If she were to die here today, she would never get to see them again, they would never know what happened to her. Would they just think that she truly abandoned them? _'Gods.'_ Her heart broke more (if that was even possible.)

 _'Gods, what do I do?'_ She prayed again, but non answered back. All she got in response was her own insides twisting and turning, making the back of her throat close. She had to clench her teeth together tightly to keep herself from getting sick.

A heavy sigh leaves the Stormcloak soldier, bringing back everyone's attention. "I used to be sweet on a girl from here, you know." He looked at Ulfric when he said that and Hope noticed Ulfric's eyes soften just a bit. "I can't help but wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with the juniper berries in it." He said as he lifted his head up to look at an Imperial flag flying high above them.

"Funny..." He sighed. "When I was a boy, Imperial walls used to make feel so safe..." She heard sadness in his voice that time, as if he was remembering a fond memory that made him miss the past.

"Hurry up!" They hear a woman yell nearby. "Get these carriages aligned at once!" They heard her yell again. The carriage then starts to come to a slow stop. Hope sits up and her eyes immediately fall on a very large man, holding an axe. _'Gods...'_

"What's going on!?" Lokir looked around with is eyes wide and full of fear. "Why are we stopping!?" He shouted, taking Hope by surprise. Until now he's been completely silent, maybe the reality of their situation just hit him all at once and made panic take over.

"What do you think?" The Stormcloak furrowed his brow down at him. "End of the line."

 _'End of the line.'_ The sentence repeated several times in Hope's head and every time it did it felt more and more real. End of the line, that's where they were, that's where the gods took them. _'End of the line...'_

"No." Lokir breathed. "No, no, no, no."

"Everyone out of their carriages and stand in a line, anyone tries to make a move they'll be dead before they start!" The same woman from before yells.

Hope's eyes move to the other carriages that stopped and lined up next to theirs, she watched every prisoner get up and get in a straight line. "Come on." The Stormcloak spoke, making Hope's eyes move to him. "We shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

For a moment, Hope felt her heart stop and her lungs struggle to breath. _'End of the line.'_ His words repeat in her mind again.

Before she knows it, she's standing with the Stormcloak moving behind her. Her eyes are wide with fear and facing the floor of the carriage. "No!" She hears Lokir shout again. "I'm not a rebel! You've got to tell them!" He pleaded with is head quickly turning to look at the Stormcloak.

The Stormcloak scoffed. "Face your death with some courage horse thief!" He told him.

"No, no!" Lokir shouts some more as Ulfric jumps down from the carriage. Lokir froze, making Hope bump into him and send him falling off of the carriage. A painful cry left him when he hit the ground. "Get up!" The woman shouted angrily. She heard another cry leave Lokir as he slowly did what he was told. Now it was Hope's turn and instead of hesitating like she thought she would, she jumps down and moves to the side so that the soldier could do the same.

She didn't know what kept her moving, she didn't know what kept her from getting sick.

All she did know was that she couldn't stop, no matter how many times she tells herself to run or refuse to move, she doesn't. She doesn't run and her body moves, as if some unknown force was moving her along and keeping the last breakfast she had inside.

"Now, everybody come forward one at a time!" The woman shouts with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Damn Empire..loves their damned lists..." Mumbled the soldier as he kept his head down.

"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm." The Imperial soldier called. Hope looked at him and examined him, recognizing him from before. She remembered the Captian calling him Hadvar and also remembered his large arms around her neck.

Without any hesitation and with his head held high, Ulfric steps foward and walks right over to the headsman's block. "It has been an honor...Jarl Ulfric." The Stormcloak said with his head remaining down. "Ralof from Riverwood." Hadvar called again and this time it was the Stormcloak that stepped forward and walked to the headsman's block. _'So his name is Ralof...'_

"Lokir of Rorikstead." He called. Hope slowly moved her eyes to Lokir and was surprised to see him take off down the road. "Hey!" The woman shouted after him, but he just continued to run. "You're not going to kill me!" He shouted. "I refuse to die!" He shouted again.

"Archers!" The woman yelled, taking Hope by surprise. Her eyes widened as she watched an archer pull back an arrow and then release. A sharp gasp left her when she saw the arrow stick through Lokir's neck and watched him choke to death on his own blood. _'Gods!'_ She never liked Lokir but she never wanted him to die, especially like that.

"Anybody else feel like running!" The woman shouted, immediately bringing her eyes to Hope. She furrows her eyebrows down as she examines Hope, not recognizing her at all. The look on her face gave her a bit of hope, maybe she'll see that she doesn't belong there and will let her go.

"You." Hadvar called, making Hope quickly look at him. "Step forward." He said in a gentle voice, but Hope wasn't buying it. He was the one that choked her after all, but she did what she was told and stepped forward.

"Captain." He began with his throat clearing. _'Captain? Another one? Maybe she out ranks the last one...'_

"Now..I need you to hear me out..." Hadvar continues. "Just spit it out soldier!" The Captain yelled, making Hadvar wince.

"She's not on the list, in fact our men found her in the woods and claimed that she was a run away but I found no evidence of that." He explained. "She actually claims to be a Companion and if she's telling the truth-"

"I thought we've been over this already!" A familiar voice shouts from nearby. When Hope heard it, her blood boiled. A glare quickly took over her eyes as she watched the Captain from before walk over with her mothers necklace tied around his neck. He wore it like a prize.

"She's no Companion and she's dangerous. She nearly killed three of my men." He told the other Captain.

 _'Liar!'_ Hope wanted to scream. _'Bastard!'_ She wanted to call him. But she doesn't, she keeps her mouth shut, her tongue between her teeth and a mean glare on her face; and she can see that he feels it because the side of his face that was facing towards her began to twitch.

The second Captain stares at him for moment, thinking. "She's not on the list Captain, we can't just send her to the block." Hadvar argued. The first Captain quickly glared at him. "It doesn't matter if she-"

"Enough!" The second Captain cut in, making them both shut their mouths. She looked back to Hope and examined her for a moment before asking. "What's your name?"

Hope was taken back by that for a moment, she blinked at the Captain and then answered. "Li-Liah..."

"Write down Liah." She said with her head turning to Hadvar. Hadvar looked at her confused but then did what he was told. "There, now she's on the list and now she goes to the block."

Hope's jaw drops as Hadvar stops writing and looks up with wide eyes while the other Captain shows a victorious smile on his face.

Hadvar and the Captain both stare at each other for an intense moment before he sighs and slowly turns to Hope with regret on his face. "I'm sorry, I'll make sure that whatever family you have gets your remains..."

The image of that made her want to be sick. The image of her father falling over her lifeless body like he did to her mothers made her heart drop and her bottom lip tremble. "What are you waiting for?" The Captain with her mothers necklace spoke, making her quickly glare at him. "Get moving." The other Captain spoke this time. "Unless you want an arrow through your throat as well." She threatened.

Hope clenched her jaw as she took a heavy footstep forward. The shine from the jewel in her mothers necklace catches her eyes and when she looks at it, the Captain had his fingers wrapped around it with a big grin on his face. Hope quickly glared at him when she passes by him. _'If my wrists weren't bound I'd snap his neck...'_ She thought to herself with some of her hatred pushing away a little bit of her fear.

That fear quickly returned when she stopped next to a couple of Stormcloak soldiers. They were all surrounding the block and the headsmen. He looked at each one of them, his eyes thirsting for blood. She quickly looked to side, hoping to see Ralof beside her but she doesn't. A stranger wearing Stormcloak armor stood between them. She didn't know him very well, but she wanted him beside her.

"Ulfric Stormcloak." Shouted Tullius, making everyone there look at him. He was standing right in front of him, with his arms crossed and a half-smile on his face. "You know, some here in Helgen call you a hero." He said with his half-smile slowly disappearing. "But a hero doesn't use the power of the voice to kill his High King and usurp his thrown."

Ulfric gave him a mean glare with a growl leaving from behind the cloth covering his mouth. "You started this war!" Tullius shouted for all to hear. "Now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!" His voice echoed all around them.

In fact, he shouted so loud that Hope thought she heard his echo coming from the sky. That was until Hadvar spoke up. "What was that?" He said with his eyes going up to the sky. "Did you hear that?" He asked with his brow furrowing.

"It's nothing." Tullius quickly said, making Hadvar look back at him. Tullius then backed away from Ulfric and took his place next to the female Captain. "Lets get this moving." He said with his arms crossing. "Yes General Tullius sir!" She responded with her fist quickly meeting her chest.

She then looked to what looked like a priest and said. "Give them their last rights."

The priest nodded and then stepped forward with her arms raised in the air. "By the blessing from the eight divines-" Hope heard the Stormcloak next to her scoff, making her unable to hear what else the priest was saying.

"We command-"

"By the love of Talos shut up!" The Stormcloak next to her shouted, making the priest jump and step back. "Let's get this over with." He said while quickly heading over to the headsmen block. "As you wish..." The priest replied with disgust showing in her voice.

Hope watched with wide wide eyes as the Captain takes hold of the Stormclaks shoulder and pushes him to the ground until his head was laying on the block. _'Gods...'_

The Captain takes a step back and watches at the headsmen slowly raises his giant axe into the air. "My ancestors are smiling on me Imperial, can you say the same?" The moment his last words left him, the axe came down and chopped his head off in one move.

If it didn't feel real before, it certainly felt real then. Hope's jaw dropped the moment his head slowly fell into the meager basket they had set up for it. This was really happening, they were all really going to die.

"You Imperial bastards!" Cried a Stormcloak soldier. "Justice!" Shouted one of the villagers, quickly silencing the soldier. "As fearless in death...as he was in life..." Whispered Ralof, his voice showing his sadness. They all watched as a couple of Imperial soldiers run to the fresh corpse, grab its legs and then drag it away with a trail of blood forming underneath it.

"Next, the so called **Companion**!" The Captain mocked with her finger pointing towards Hope.

Hope couldn't believe it, she was called up so quickly and nobody was going to speak up about it!? The Companions never had anything to do with wars so shouldn't this be a crime?!

Suddenly, another echo is heard and this time General Tullius didn't speak. It was loud like thunder, yet there were no clouds in the sky and it was much closer this time. Hope furrows her eyebrows down as she slowly looks up at the sky. What was it? Wind?

"There it is again." Hadvar pointed out, making Hope feel less crazy. "What is that?"

"I said, next prisoner." The Captain commanded through frustrated clenched teeth.

Hadvar quickly looked at her and then slowly looked at Hope with regret once again filling in his eyes. "To the block prisoner..." He told her with a frown. "Nice and easy..."

A pain shot through her chest as Hope slowly took the first step. Her fearful eyes locked onto the block as she approached it. Then before she knew it, she was standing in front of it with the Captains hand roughly gripping her shoulder.

Before she was pushed to the ground, she looked to Hadvar and saw him immediately avoid her eyes, unable to bare the look on her face before she was killed.

She was pushed hard to her knees and then pushed even harder to the headsmen block. The only thing in her few was the massive man in front of her with his giant axe getting ready for another kill. _'This is really it, this is really the end.'_

The image of her family flashed before her eyes again and it wasn't just her family in Rorikstead, it was also her family in Whiterun. It was Vilkas. The memory of when they almost kissed came to her, making her regret that she never went for it. She never should of hesitated, now she will never get the chance to tell him how she feels.

In fact, she never really knew how she felt about him until now. She always knew her heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, she knew how her insides tingled whenever he unknowingly stood too close to her. _'Gods...'_ It's not just her family in Rorikstead that'll never know what happened, it was Vilkas too. It was the Companions, her friends. All they would receive was word that she died and they'll never know the injustice of her death.

Hope's eyes slowly fell shut as she knew the headsmen was slowly raising his axe into the air. She could feel the fresh blood drip off its blade and land on the side of her face, she wanted to be sick when she felt it just like she wanted to be sick when she felt her head lay in the fresh pool of blood that had leaked out of the headless body.

She clenched her jaw and embraced what was to come, until she heard Tullius shout. "What in a Oblivion is that!?"

Hope's eyes fly open and immediately look to the sky, all she sees a massive black shadow fly over them.

"Sentries, what do you see!?" The Captain shouts in a bit of a panic.

Another massive shadow flies over them, causing wind to hit everyone like a wall. Hope desperately searched the sky for an answer but found non, she only found the headsmen continue to raise his axe above her head. He was apparently too eager for blood to care about what was going on.

"It's in the clouds!" Shouted a villager, making the whole village panic and begin to scream.

Then suddenly, on the tower that stood high above them all. Landed a giant beast that cast a shadow so large that it almost fooled Hope into thinking that it was night. It's weight was so great that it caused the stone tower below it to crack and crumble. The very earth below them shook from its landing, causing the headsmen to fall to the ground, dropping his axe.

Hope's eyes widened as the very blood in her veins froze. She's seen this beast before, she's seen its great wings take off to the sky, she's felt its firey red eyes burn into her very soul.

' _Mindok Kruziik Al Alok_.' The sentence she's heard in her dreams many times repeat in her mind. In fact they echoed so loudly she felt like her very ear drums were going to burst.

The giant beast above her leaned forward with the sharp end of its wings digging into the stone tower as it stared down at her like it knew her. She watched it slowly tilt its head and let out a growl so deep she felt her very insides rumble like thunder.

As the headsmen tried to stand up, the great beast that was as black as night opened its mouth wide, Hope expected a great roar to come from it. But instead only thunder is heard from its gaping mouth and then suddenly, the sky changed.

Dark clouds formed and swirled in the middle of the sky like a whirlpool, thunder started to roar all around them and then all at once, screams full of terror were heard all around her.

"Guards get the towns people to safety!" Shouted General Tullius as he tried to maneuver through the screaming crowd.

"Dammit somebody get the battle-mages out here!" Tullius continued to shout as thunder continued to boom in the sky.

Hope's heart slammed against her as her chest moved rapidly with her panicked breathing. She stared up at the giant beast with wide eyes and it stared right back down at her. _'Run.'_ Every bone in her body and every muscle attached to those bones didn't dare move. They refused to move. _'Get up and get away!'_ But she doesn't, she can't. She's stuck, frozen in terror.

The beast high above her opens its mouth wide once more, allowing another thunderous roar to come from the back of its throat, except this time it was aimed for Hope and anyone that was around.

When it came, it came with high winds and when it hit, it hit with a force so great that it sent Hope flying back. Causing her body to slide against the ground hard, forming fresh scrapes and bruises before she can even grasp what was happening.

She's stopped only by her body coming into contact with a toppled over carriage and when her back hits it, she can feel the wood of it crack. She coughed and gagged, trying to recover the air that was suddenly knocked out of her.

With a painful groan, she slowly rolls over to her stomach and embraces herself to sit up. When she moves to do so every part of her body screamed at her to stop. But she couldn't stop, she finally had control over her body and she needed to escape, she needed to get away.

Hope slowly sat up to her knees with her bound hands pushing her up from the hard ground. She opened her eyes and saw several lifeless bodies already litter the ground. _'Gods.'_

She quickly got up to her feet and looked around at the chaos. She watched villagers run for their lives and watched soldiers hopelessly shoot arrows towards the now flying beast. All it had to do was beat its wings in the right direction and they were all sent flying.

In a short distance, something catches Hope's eyes. She sees a fallen sword that one of the soldiers must of dropped. With out wasting any more time, Hope sprints to it and then quickly drops on her knees before it. She grabs the blade with her hands and then props it up between her knees. Then in a hurry, she places the tip of the blade between the rope and her hands and begins to cut away.

The rope was thick and she could feel cuts form on her hands from her quickly slicing through the rope, but she didn't care. Even though it was slow, it was working. "Come on." She said through clenched teeth as she sliced through the very last layer of rope.

A gasp leaves her when the rope slides off her wrists, she almost celebrated the moment until she remembered that a monster was attacking. So she jumps to her feet, ignoring the blood running off her hands and makes a run for it. She sees an opening through the running villagers and fighting soldiers. No body was paying attention to the road that led straight for the gate, so that was where she went.

She took off with speed she didn't know she had. She ran around fighting soldiers and leaped over lifeless bodies. She saw the gate nearing and was sure she was going to make it.

But then something falls from the sky and lands just a few feet in front of her. When it lands an explosion comes from it, sending Hope's body flying back. She hits the ground hard and the moment she does she can feel the very skin on the tops of her arms and on the side of her face burn and hear it sizzle.

She lets out a cry of pain as she lies on the ground with her hands covering her face.

"Hey!" She hears a familiar voice shout in the distance.

She slowly removes her hands from her face and sits up to see, but smoke caused from the explosion surrounded her and blocked her view. "Get up!" She hears it shout again, but she can't get up. Her body felt burned and broken, no matter how badly she wanted to get up and run, she couldn't. _'Gods help me.'_

Suddenly, she feels a strong hand grip her arm and lift her up to her feet. She cried out in pain as she was pulled behind whoever just helped her up. She squinted her eyes at the large figure in front of her. Through the smoke she could see thick blonde hair flying behind the figure, that's when she knew it was Ralof.

"Ralof!" She shouted.

"Come on, this way!" He shouted as he continued to pull her along.

They both coughed as they ran through the thick smoke as more anomalies fell from the sky, causing explosions all around them.

Finally Hope sees a large structure appear in front of them, Ralof crashes through the door and sends Hope falling inside first. When she hits the cold stone floor of the building they ran in, her body screams with pain but then welcomes the cool sensation of it. Making her unable to resist laying down on the cold floor, taking in as much of the moment of safty she could. Because Gods knew it was only going to last a small moment.


	40. Chapter 40

**So..you guys are probably wondering why this is another late chapter ^^". Yesterday was a Holiday and I was spending most of it with family, I was able to write some but didn't get a chance to finish it due to it becoming so late. So here it is! It's a bit shorter than I originally planned but if I had gone to the spot I wanted to it would of honestly been WAY too long. Anyways, hope you guys like the chapter! Thanks for reading and being patient with me!**

* * *

The cold stone floor of the tower they just crashed through was a welcoming sensation. Hope hugged it with the side of her face that was badly burned pressed against it. _'Gods...'_ She closed her eyes and took in the familiar scent of dust off of the floor.

Suddenly, the sound of a great thunderous roar was heard from above as the towers walls began to shook and crumble. Hope's eyes flew open when she felt a few pebbles from the ceiling land on her head. When she opens her eyes, she sees two injured Stormcloak soldiers pressed up against a wall with grave wounds that bled greatly. Another soldier sat in front of them, whispering calm words even though he too knew that they weren't going to make it.

Hope slowly sits up to her knees and rubs both her arms as she hears another roar from outside. "Jarl Ulfric." Panted Ralof. Hope turned her head and saw Ulfric leaning against the wall with his hand covering a wound on his side, he must of been hit by something on his way over here. Ulfric looked up at Ralof and then looked over to Hope, examining her own burns and wounds.

"Was that..." Ralof trails off, thinking twice before he speaks again. "Was that really a dragon? Could the legends be true?!" He said with disbelief in his voice.

Hope's eyes widened as she heard Ulfric let out a meager chuckle. "Legends don't burn down villages..." He replied with his body standing up from the wall.

 _'Dragon...Dragon? Dragon!?'_ The word repeated in Hope's mind and the more it did the more she couldn't believe it. That couldn't of been a dragon, no way could that of been a dragon...right?

She thinks back to its giant dark wings and burning red eyes, she remembers the way smoke left its nostrils and the way the back of its throat flared up before it released its power. _'By the gods...a dragon.'_ She realizes with her mouth falling open.

Hope had read about dragons before, she read and heard stories about the old dragon war. She also heard that all dragons had been slain, but if that were true...how could this one be attacking them right now? Just how could it be casting some sort of strange...magic that makes the sky spit out angry balls of fire?

Non of it made sense and she had no time to make sense of it. Another roar comes from outside with the tower walls crumbling and shaking afterwords. Everybody looked up and watched cracks form on the ceiling above them. The brittle stone structure they were all hiding in was not going to last for much longer.

Ulfric stares at the forming cracks a moment longer before quickly looking back to Ralof and Hope. "We need to move, now!" He shouted with another loud roar following after.

Ralof nodded and then rushed over to Hope, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her up to her feet. "Come on." He said as he helped her gain her footing. "Let's climb up to the roof of the tower and get a good look at our situation, maybe we'll find a way around this mess." He told her.

 _'Right, higher up where the dragon can grab you.'_ She doubtfully thought to herself. But she kept those words only to herself, even though it sounded like a foolish plan, it was a plan non-the-less. So she hesitantly follows him up the large set of stone stairs, ignoring the stinging pain that was coming from the fresh wounds on her body.

When they reach the top of the first set of stairs, their eyes widen and mouths fall agape. Instead of finding another set of stairs to lead them higher up, they only find giant stones from the top of the tower blocking their path and another Stormcloak soldier quickly moving smaller stones out of the way.

When he hears them run up the stairs, he stops and turns to them with panic in his eyes and blood dripping from his cracked finger nails. "Come on!" He shouts with desperation in his voice. He quickly turns and points a shaky finger at the large stones. "If we just-" Suddenly the very wall behind him breaks open, whatever stones held the wall together now lay on the poor soldier.

Through the new hole in the wall, the dragon pokes its head through. Its eyes searching and then stopping right on Hope, it was as if it was looking for her and knew she was there. She watches smoke pour out of its nostrils once again as it slowly opens its mouth, letting out a terrible deep growl.

Its mouth started to slowly open, showing its great teeth. That's when Hope's body decided to react and send her running down the stairs with Ralof right behind her. Before they could even reach the middle of the large set of stairs, they both hear a deep rumble in the dragons chest. "Look out!" Shouted Ralof as he quickly pushed Hope down on top of a stair and then shielded her with his body while a burst of hot flames erupts from the dragons throat.

She can feel the heat from the fire just above them and hear Ralof hiss as some of the fire laps at his back. When the fire finally stops and the dragon flies away from the tower to continue the destruction of Helgen. Ralof lets go of her and falls back with a painful groan leaving him. Hope quickly sits up, suddenly fearful for the soldier and searches him for any major wounds. Luckily his armor kept most of the damage away except for the back of his neck, but even that wasn't in bad shape for just having fire blown right above them.

"You okay?" She asks with a hand resting on his arm. "I'm fine." He groaned through clenched teeth as he slowly stood back up to his feet. They both walked back up the stairs and approached the large hole that was just formed on the side of the tower. Ralof scans the area below them before resting his hand on Hope's shoulder and pointing below them.

"See that Inn down there?" He pointed it out with his index finger. Hope looked down to it and examined the huge opening that was in its roof as well as the flames rising on the side of it. "You need to jump to it." He told her, making Hope snap her head to him with her eyes wide. "Are you crazy!" She exclaimed in bewilderment.

"It's your only chance!" He explained. "The building will soon be consumed with flames, if you don't jump now you'll lose your chance and just end up being stuck here!"

Hope stared at him for a moment, her eyes remaining wide and fearful. She slowly moves them away from him and back towards the burning Inn down below. "But...what about you?" She asked with her eyes quickly going back to Ralof.

"Don't worry about me." He told her with both of his hands now being placed on her shoulders. "I need to stay and see if I can get the others out of here, you go on a head. I'll catch up to you if I can." He said with a soft smile, but she didn't believe it. She could see the fear behind his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to play it off brave.

Hope hesitantly gives him a nod in response before taking a step forward and peering down at the wrecked Inn below once more. "Just so you know." Spoke up Ralof, making Hope look at him again. "In case we don't see each other again." He said with a smile. "Even though our time was short, it was an honor knowing you." He told her with a nod. Hope nodded in return and then watched him hurry down the stairs.

She turned her attention back to the burning Inn below and watched as the flames began to climb up its very walls. The thought of jumping from such a distance and into a burning building didn't settle well inside her but she knew she had to, just like Ralof said it was her only chance of getting out of there and if she was going to do it, she needed it to do it now.

So after taking a deep breath, she jumps with her eyes shutting in mid fall. She hits the exposed second floor of the Inn hard, first landing on her feet and then immediately toppling over afterwords. She doesn't stay down long though, she quickly scrambles to her feet and runs for another hole in the floor that led to the part of the building that hadn't yet been consumed by flames.

She doesn't hesitate to leap down to the first floor, ignoring the splintering wood of the floor scratching the side of her arm on the way down. She lands clumsily again but is able to gain her footing back quickly. "You need to get over here now!" She hears a panicked shout nearby. With heavy breaths, Hope leaves the burning Inn and immediately spots an Imperial soldier and an old man standing in the middle of the road. She believed that the Imperial was the one named Hadvar, but she didn't know who the old man was.

"Haming!" He shouted loudly again. Hope furrowed her eyebrows and quickly joined them on the road. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was a little boy huddled over his fallen father that Hadvar was calling to.

"Get up daddy!" The little boy cried.

"Gods, Haming please!" Hadvar begged with his voice going hoarse.

Straight out of the sky was a gush of wind that nearly knocked them all off their feet and then the earth shook below them, giving them all a familiar sense of fear.

The three of them looked up and at once their jaws fell open. The dragon had landed only a foot away from the boy and his fallen father, its slowly lifted its head up and peered right down at them with its glowing hungry eyes. Hope couldn't believe it, it had no reason to target the two, so why was it?

The boy was frozen in fear as he trembled next to his fathers body. He wanted to look away from the monster, but he couldn't.

"Haming..." His father spoke weakly and then winced from a sharp pain shooting through his lungs.

They all stood, frozen in fear as they watched the mighty dragons chest rise and a glow appear through his sharp teeth. They knew what was going to happen next, but non of them knew what they were going to do. Especially Hope, even though she had already sprinted past Hadvar and was nearly to the boy.

 _'What are you doing?!'_ She kept running with her eyes glued to the boys back. "Hey!" She heard Hadvar call after her. _'What are you going to do?! Fight the dragon?!'_ She just kept on running, no matter the thoughts rushing through her brain, no matter how hard her body tried to make her turn around and run the opposite direction.

She just kept running and when she reached them, when she met eyes with the injured father. She knew what to do, knew what he wanted her to do and she didn't hesitate.

"Be a good boy, you hear?" The father told his son weakly.

The little boy slowly looked down and blinked at his father with his eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "Wh..what?" He questioned.

Suddenly a pare of arms wraps around his torso and pulls him away from his father. "No!" The boy screamed as Hope threw him over her shoulder and ran. The little boy kicked and screamed, he did whatever he could to try and break free, but he just wasn't strong enough.

The cries and sobs leaving the little boys throat as he reached out for his father broke Hope's heart into a million pieces, but she had to keep going, she needed to get away so that this little boy could at least live.

Hadvar watched with wide eyes, he watched Hope sprint back to him but the dragon was already openings its mouth with fire beginning to spill from its throat. She wasn't going to make it in time, she and the little boy she carried were soon going to be nothing but charred skin and ash.

But she kept going, she just kept going even though the rising heat in the air told her that she wasn't going to get them both there in time. So she needed to at least get one of them there.

Hadvar read the look in Hope's eyes as she neared and before he knew it, the boy was being thrown right to him. Hadvar leaped forward and caught the boy in his arms. A river of fire came spilling through the street, forcing Hardvar to spin around and get behind cover. He fell to the ground behind a broken building with the boy hugging onto him beneath him. The boy sobbed and called for his father as Hadvar shielded him from the fire behind them.

When the fire dispersed and it was safe to stand up, Hadvar guids the boy to the old man. "Gunnar, I need you to get the boy to safety." He told him. "Gods guide you Hadvar." Gunnar replied as he picked up the little boy and ran away from the chaos. Hadvar immediately turns around and walks back to the road that, just moments ago, had a river of fire flowing through it.

He saw the boys father's remains scorched to the ground with embers still burning on top of it. "Gods...Torolf.."

He forced himself to look away from the smoldering body and hesitantly searched the road for another, but there was no other. His eyebrows quickly furrow as he walks on the newly scorched road and looks around. "Hey!" He called, having a hard time remembering her name at the moment. "You still alive?!" He shouted, trying to be heard above the sudden crash of another tower in the distance.

"I'm-" He hears a response but its cut off with a sharp hiss. He quickly turns and finds Hope laying on the ground between two broken buildings. She must of jumped out of the way the moment the boy landed in his arms.

"Gods!" He exclaimed while rushing to her side. He quickly grabbed her arm with one hand and pushed another behind her back. He sat her up with another sharp hiss leaves her when he does.

Hadvar quickly searches her over, her arms and chest looked fine, nothing but scrapes on her skin and dents on her chest-piece. However, her legs were a different matter. "Gods..." He breathed as he examined the massive burns on the bottoms of her legs. Whatever leather and cloth protected her before, had either burned away from the fire or burned itself onto her skin. The boots on her feet looked like they were about to fall apart.

"Can you..." He trails off, examining the burns once more. "Can you walk?" He asked with his eyes meeting hers. He read the pain in them and watched her jaw tighten when she tried to move a leg. "I..I have to." She replied with a groan following after.

"I have to...get up..." She said between groans. Hadvar nodded and allowed her to hold onto his forearms as they both stood up. Sobs of pain left her throat as she slowly stood to her feet. He watched her with wide eyes, disbelief spilling from them as she actually started to stand on her own. He wondered what able her to stand, let alone move. He knew wounds like that would leave anyone, even him immobile. But she just kept going, adrenaline must of been rushing through her veins because there could be no other way that she was able to do that.

"Are you...okay?" He asked with his eyes quickly going over her body. She gave him a small nod with a shaky breath of air leaving her. "I need to..." She trails off to take in a deep breath of air, even though when she did it made her lungs hurt.

"You need to stay with me." Hadvar told her with both of his hands resting on her shoulders. Hope moved her eyes to him as her body unconsciously leaned into his arms, desperately wanting to rest. She didn't trust him, she didn't want to trust him. Especially since he was partially responsible for Hope being there. But what choice did she have? It was miracle that she was able to stand on her feet like she was, but to be able to escape the burning village alone? That was just impossible, she needed help and by some kind of joke from the gods, it was his help that was only available.

"Okay..." She nodded. Without wasting any more time, Hadvar grabs Hope by the hand and leads her through the broken buildings and small fires around them. He knew he couldn't move too fast or else Hope would fall due to her injuries, so he kept at a good pace that allowed Hope to fight through the pain and get them through the chaos around them.

They both go over a pile of smoking wood and then move into an ally that led around a couple of houses. "Stay close to the wall!" He shouted over the screams and destruction. As they ran along the wall, Hope kept running into it and nearly toppling over. Hadvar comes to a quick stop and when he does the earth and the wall beside them shakes.

Hope's body hits Hadvar's so hard that she nearly falls over, she was able to stop herself by grabbing onto him and the wall. She slowly looked up above them and when she did her eyes widened. The dragon was perched on the great wall, right above them. Its wings were so close to her she could just reach out and touch them.

Hadvar's head was down with his hand covering his mouth, trying to hide his heavy breathing from the dragon. It would seem that it was unaware of their presence just below it.

Hope continued to stare up at the dragon, it was the closest she's been to it since the attack started and staring up at it...looking into its glowing red eyes ignited something inside of her. With her breathing becoming slow and her vision blurring, she swore she could feel the very blood in her veins flow. _'What's happening?'_ She leaned into Hadvar, afraid that was going to pass out and topple over any minute.

Then suddenly with its chest rising, a burst of fire explodes from its mouth as well as a word. _"Yol."_ Hope's eyes flew open as her heart resumed its fast pace and her breathing came back to her. Did she really just hear that? No, she couldn't of. All that came from its throat was a roar and then fire, no words could of come from that...

With the trail of fire ending, it quickly takes off with the wall it landed on crumbling and tumbling down. Hadvar quickly jumped back, the pile of stones missing him just by seconds. "Let's keep going!" He told her, grabbing her hand and running off without giving her a moment to recover from...whatever just happened to her.

They suddenly leave the protection of the ally and were now running through the open streets with battle-mages shooting whatever kind of magic they could up at the dragon. As they ran, Hope got glimpses of the injured laying on the ground, she looked up and watched the dragon circle in the sky with its hungry eyes peering down at the soldiers shooting arrows at it.

Hadvar makes a sharp turn, causing Hope to nearly trip but he didn't stop. He kept going, he had to keep going and she didn't stop him. No matter how much her body screamed for her stop, no matter how much pain she felt in her legs, she knew that they couldn't stop. They couldn't stop until they were out of harms way.

"Hadvar what are you doing!?" She hears Tullius shout over the dragons roars. Hadvar gives him a quick look as they run by him. "Into the Keep soldier, we're leaving!" The general told him. It looked like that was where Hadvar was heading anyways, no matter what anyone told him.

An archway built onto the stone wall collapses behind them just as they pass through it. "We're almost there!" Hadvar shouted. _'We're almost there..thank the gods.'_

She thanked them too soon, because once again Hadvar comes to a quick stop, making Hope tumble right into him. She hissed from the pain it sent through her legs, she quickly regained herself and looked up over his shoulder.

She was surprised and relieved to see that Ralof was standing in front of them. But it would seem she was the only one to be glad to see him. "Ralof!" Hadvar shouted. "You damned traitor!" He growls this time. "Get out of our way!"

Ralof's eyes quickly go to Hope's behind Hadvar. When he first saw them running he thought he had captured her from escaping but now that he sees them up close, he knows that they were both actually escaping together. Hope looked badly wounded and looked like she needed the help, even if it was from an Imperial bastard.

Ralof's eyes went back to Hadvar as two more Stormcloaks joined Ralof with their weapons drawn. "We're escaping Hadvar!" He shouted. "You're not stopping us this time!"

 _'Gods are they really doing this now?'_ Hope thought to herself with her teeth clenching together tightly from the pain in her legs. It hurt to run, but to stand still where her legs could become stiff? No words could describe that pain.

She slowly lifted a leg up to get it moving as she weakly leaned into Hadvar's back. Hadvar noticed and slightly turned his head with a worried look on his face, then with another growl leaving him he quickly turns back to Ralof. "Fine!" He shouted over the dragons roars above them. "I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!"

With nothing else needed to be said, Hadvar grabs Hope's hand and leads her to the Keep. Ralof and the others go around her to reach the opposite Keep and when he does, his eyes lock onto hers for just a moment before he completely turned away and ran for safety.

They run only a few more feet before Hadvar shoves a door open and they're both under the safety of the stone tower. Once they're inside Hadvar lets go of Hope's hand to shut the door behind them while she stumbled over to a pillar and sat beside it. Pain surges through her all at once when her body is finally able to just sit still and rest.

The burnt skin on her legs cracked and stung, the gashes and cuts from falling debris outside that decorated her body pulsed with pain, and the blisters on her face threatened to burst if she so much as opened her mouth to take a needed breath.

"Gods..." Hadvar panted with his head resting against the door.

Hope slowly moved a leg to change positions and the moment it moved she couldn't stop the sob leaving her throat. Hadvar stepped back from the door and quickly turned to look at her. "Gods...that dragon really did a number on you didn't it?" He said as he approached her. "Dragon..." Hadvar breathed as he knelt down in front of Hope to examine her wounds. "That was really a dragon...wasn't it?" He said with disbelief showing in his voice.

A shaky sigh left him as he brought a hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. Hope watched him tightly close his eyes, obviously trying to gather his thoughts together. It all seemed to be hitting him at once, just like it did to her after her and Ralof crashed into that crumbling tower.

"I know..." Hope said with a weak voice. Hadvar opens his eyes and looks back at her. "It's hard to believe..isn't it?" She said with a small smile showing on her face. Hadvar watched it form with his eyebrows pinched together. Just how could she show a smile like that at a time like this? They may no long be out in the open but that didn't mean they were out of danger. And she knew that, it was clear that she was just trying to help him gather his thoughts faster and calm him down.

Hadvar's eyes go back to Hope's legs, wincing from the condition of them. "Gods.." He whispered as he carefully pulled a piece of burn leather off the flesh of her leg, she hissed in pain in response. "Just how did you make it this far?" He wondered out loud. "Grace of the gods I guess...if they're even with us.." She chuckled and then sighed.

Hope never really had a set belief before even though she's heard about all of the gods, especially the goddess Kynareth. Her mother was a big believer in her. But Hope? That was always a question she asked herself over the years, never really thinking on it too much. But now... Well...if the gods were with them than they didn't care because a whole village of innocent people just burned down to the ground.

Hadvar slowly lifted his eyes to hers and watched them sink to the ground, they stayed like that for a moment. Then he noticed her eye lids start to lower. "Woah, hey, hey." He quickly extended his hand out to give the side of her face a light pat.

Hope quickly sat up straight, trying to keep herself from passing out but it was near impossible. Resting like she was made her body crave for sleep it desperately needed. _'If I go to sleep, maybe I'll wake up in Jorrvaskr and this will all have been a dream...'_ The thought of that was nice. Even if it was Jorrvaskr's hard bed she'd wake up in, but who was she kidding? She'd take a hard bed with a room full of drunk warriors over everything that's just happened.

Hadvar watches her chest rise and then slowly fall with a deep exhale escaping past her lips, that's when her eyes started to fall shut again. "Hey!" He said a bit loudly this time, making her jump back awake. "You have to stay awake, you could have a concussion." He told her as he examined her eyes closely. "Yeah...yeah I know..." She replied quietly with her hand waving him off.

He was right, she knew he was right but it was hard to deny her body the rest it was begging for. Gods...couldn't she just lay her head down for a minute?

A loud roar from outside as well as the tower walls shaking answered that question for her. She sat straight back up again with her eyes shutting hard and then opening, she was trying to blink the tired away but if anything it was just making it worse. "Okay.." Exhaled Hadvar as he moved his eyes back down to Hope's legs. "If we're going to keep going, we need to do something about your wounds." He said.

Hadvar slowly gets to his feet and looks around, he didn't know what tower they were in until now. The beds aligning the walls and the tables sitting with chairs scattered around them told him that it was the barracks for Helgen's guards. "Okay, let me see if I can find something for those burns." He said with his eyes going back down to Hope. She gave him an exhausted nod and then watched him quickly walk around the room, searching everything that was in it.

It was only moments later when she heard him exclaim. "Aaha!"

He quickly rushed back over to her and while kneeling down in front of her, dumped supplies out of a fairly large bag. She watched him scatter out the junk until he found what he was looking for. Bandages, and it looked like there was just enough for her.

"Alright, this won't get rid of the burns but it'll at least keep them from getting infected until we get you to some kind of healer." He explained as he carefully picked up one of her legs. She hissed in pain when he moved it. "Sorry!" He quickly apologized.

"Just relax okay? I'll get this done in no time and then we'll find a way out of here, alright?" He said with his eyes moving to hers. Hope nodded in response and then laid her head back against the hard pillar behind her.

As Hadvar wrapped her legs and moved them around, Hope tried biting her tongue and hiding her cries of pain. But sometimes one would escape, especially when he started peeling her boots off the very skin of her leg. "Almost done." He told her soothingly. His voice was calm and he kept trying his best to make her feel better, but it wasn't working. Nothing could make her feel better.

"Gods!" She exclaimed loudly after Hadvar finished peeling off the last of the burnt leather off her skin. "Sorry, but I can't just leave it there." He told her as he continued to wrap her legs. "I know." She breathed with sweat sliding down the side of her face.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Hadvar was done. A relieved sigh left him and Hope as he got back up to his feet. "Alright, wait there." He told her as he walked over to a small dresser that was next to one of the beds. _'Wasn't planning on going anywhere.'_ She wanted to smart off, but she didn't. She didn't have the energy for it.

Hadvar came back to her with a pare of soft looking shoes. "They're not much protection, but I imagine they'll be better than going barefoot." He said as he knelt down in front of her once more to place the shoes on her feet. She was glad that her feet was wrapped up like the rest of her lower legs because if they weren't, the material of the shoes would probably be sticking to her burnt skin.

"Alright." He sighed as he stood back up. "I'll give you a minute to gather yourself but then we really need to get going. There's no telling how long the structure above us will last." He said. Hope gave him nod and then watched him begin to search the room some more, trying to find anything else that could help them. But it wasn't help that Hope felt like they were going to fine, she felt like only more death waiting for them. So why even bother to look?


	41. Chapter 41

When Hadvar said he'd give Hope just a minute, it really was just a minute. She felt like the moment the pain in her legs started to die down was when Hadvar helped her up to her feet. "Can you stand on your own?" He asked with his hands balancing Hope by the shoulders. "Yeah..I think so." She replied weakly.

"Okay." Hadvar breathed. He slowly let go of her shoulders and then lead her to the door on the other side of the room. Before they opened it, Hadvar took a sword down off of a weapons wrack and then handed it to her. Hope looked down at it with her eyebrows furrowed. "Go on, take it." He told her, gesturing it out towards her. "You might need it."

Hope slowly nodded before taking it out of his hand, even though she knew she wouldn't be much help with it in her condition. She waited for Hadvar to push the door open and then walk through it before following him. When she walked, only her right leg was able to take a decent step, her left leg was more injured and more in pain so all she could really do with it was drag it behind her.

They walked through a small hallway that made their breaths echo, especially Hope's. Her breath was heavy and it was only getting heavier with each step she took, just walking down the hallway caused her body to use so much energy that she didn't know how she was going to be able to make it out the rest of the way.

She pressed a hand on the stone wall closest to her and used it to keep herself from falling over. "There." She heard Hadvar say. She looks up and a head of them, was a bared gate just at the end of the hall. "Come on." He said as he quickly took off down the hall. A heavy sigh left Hope as she herself tried to hurry, but the fastest she could go could be easily compared to a horker's speed.

"Why are we still here?!" They heard an angry voice shout, making them both come to a quick stop. "Because if we just wait here the dragon will eventually move on and then we can escape!" Another shouted back.

"Or die sitting around." The first one said. "Look, I didn't tell you to wait here with me. If you want to leave like Ralof then just go!" The other shouted.

"Stormcloaks." Hadvar whispered as they slowly approached the barred gate. "Just..let me do the talking. Maybe we can reason with them..." He said with his eyes moving back to her for a moment.

 _'Reason with them, right.'_ Was all she could think as she watched Hadvar pull the metal chain that released the iron bars.

The two arguing Stormcloaks immediately fell silent the moment they heard the gate open. Hadvar stepped through it with his hands up in the air, thinking that it would prove he meant no harm. Hope stopped in the gate way and watched as the two Stormcloaks quickly sneered at Hadvar before pulling their weapons out.

"Now, just hang on-" They didn't give him a chance to finish, they just lunged at him with their teeth showing like rabid animals; just like Hope thought they would. "Shit!" Hadvar cursed as he pulled his sword out just in time to block one of the Stormcloaks swinging axe.

The axe ricocheted off his sword, making the Stormcloak stagger back but the other lunged forward to take his place. Hope watched Hadvar get backed into a wall and knew she had to do something. She couldn't take them on head first, no, she needed to try and strike them from the back while they were busy with Hadvar.

"Just!" Hadvar tries to speak to them again but they were relentless with their attacks. One of the Stormcloaks bashed their axe into Hadvar, making him hit the wall hard. That was when the other one saw the opportunity and raised his own blade in the air. But before he could swing it down, a blade was plunged into him from behind with its tip sticking out of his stomach.

The Stormcloak looked down at the blade with wide eyes before falling off it. The other one quickly spun around to meet Hope but before he could act, Hadvar's sword went right through his chest. Hope watched him yank his sword out of the soldier and then watch as the lifeless body fell to the ground.

Hadvar panted hard as he sheathed his sword and looked at Hope. "Reason with them he said..." She muttered as she wiped the blood off her blade onto the bottom of her armor, before turning around and walking towards a door that was on the opposite side of the room. She opens it and waits for Hadvar to step through so he could take the lead, only because she assumed he knew where he was going more than she would.

They both walk down a short hall a ways before coming across a large stone spiraling staircase. Hadvar descends down the steps carefully, looking around the turning wall in case of any surprises. Hope only walks down the stairs slowly due to her wounded legs, each step is harder than the last and each one has her hissing with pain.

Finally the stairs come to an end and they find themselves in another long hallway. They begin to hurry down it until they hear a roar above them. They both quickly stop and look up as the building itself shakes, causing wide cracks to form in the ceiling. They watch as the cracks spiderweb along the stone ceiling and when they come to a stop is when the roof caves in, causing dust and stones to be thrown into the air.

Hadvar and Hope both quickly jump back and cover their mouths, trying to keep the dust from seeping into their lungs, but it was no use. As soon as their hands land on their mouths they both go into coughing fits.

Hope rubs the dust and dirt out of her eyes as she continues to nearly cough out her lungs.

"Gods." She heard Hadvar cough.

She slowly opens her eyes and watches Hadvar wave the dust floating around him away. She then moves her eyes to the newly collapsed ceiling and widens her eyes at it. Before it gave in, she didn't remember seeing anyone beneath it but she still hoped nobody was caught in it.

"That dragon doesn't give up easy, does it?" Hadvar coughed again as he examined the giant mess in front them. "What do we do now?" Asked Hope as she feared losing their way out.

"We find a new way out." Hadvar replied. "Keeps like this always have more than one way out, its part of an evacuation plan I guess.." He told her as he turned around and approached a door that was near them. _'Evacuation plan?'_ Hope questioned to herself. Seeing that they've come across no other citizen of Helgen, she guessed that the "evacuation plan" was no good or...non of them were able to make it that far.

Hope shook her head, riding the fresh memory of corpses laying all around her from her head. She quickly followed Hadvar into the room he just walked in, trying her best to keep all thoughts from her mind.

"What are we still doing here?!" They heard a shout. "Hang on! The Imperials might have something here that could help us!" They hear another loudly reply.

 _'More Stormcloaks?'_ Gods, Hope has had enough death and violence for one day, can't they just sneak past them?

Hadvar charging towards the two Stormcloaks with his sword drawn told her otherwise. She let out a painful, shaky sigh before running in there herself with sword in hand. But when she ran in, Hadvar had already plunged his blade through one in the back. The moment he yanked his sword out the other swung his great-sword right at him but Hadvar ducked down and then sunk his blade into the Stormcloaks gut.

Hope watched him pull his blade out with wide eyes. She couldn't believe how fast he was able to take them down. Hadvar wiped his blade off on his leather arm-guard before looking to Hope. "Figured you could use a break from all the fighting." He told her as he placed his sword back in its sheathe.

He was right, she couldn't take anymore fighting. The thought of plunging her blade through someone else or blocking off somebody's attacks made her legs ache with pain. With the wounds she's sustained, she was in no position to swing a sword or jump back from an attack. But she couldn't let Hadvar do all the fighting, she couldn't let him carry all those deaths on his shoulders alone.

She opened her mouth to object, but he quickly turned from her before she could get anything out. She watched him with pinched eyebrows desperately grab at a barrel with iron fittings holding it together. "What are you-" _**CRACK!**_ He breaks the top off with his sword and then lets out a shaky sigh when he looked inside the barrel.

Before she could ask him what it was, she saw him dive his hand down into the barrel and then bring it back out full of water.

 _'Water...'_ Gods how long has it been since Hope's had a drink of water? The question made her mouth go dry and her throat start to itch. Hadvar hurriedly drank the water down and then desperately scooped out some more, but with both hands this time.

A relieved sigh escaped him as the liquid slipped down his throat. He slowly took a step back while wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. He looks to Hope and gestures a hand out towards the barrel full of water. "Drink." he told her. "You look like you need it more than I do." He said with his lips breaking into a small smile.

Hope didn't hesitate, she quickly approached the barrel and immediately dove both of her hands in to scoop out as much water as she could. She leaned over the barrel as she carefully lifted her hands to her lips. When the water entered her mouth and slipped down her throat, she lost pains she didn't even know she had. She was so dehydrated that the moment her body took in the first sip of water, it immediately demanded more and she wasn't going to deny it what it needed. She's already done that enough today.

Hadvar watches Hope quickly pick up another scoop of water and then another and then another. "Careful there." He said while turning and approaching a set of drawers. "If you take in too much too fast you'll make yourself sick."

Hope took in one more large gulp of water before replying. "I know." She exhaled. "I just couldn't help it..."

"I understand." He replied as he pulled out a couple of water-skins from the drawers. Hope backed away and watched Hadvar dip the water-skins inside the barrel, filling them up with water. "We're lucky we came by a store room." He told her as he placed the caps on top of them. He then handed Hope one with a soft smile on his face. "Thank you." She said as she placed it between her hip and her belt. "Just make sure it lasts, there's no telling how much more we have to go to get out of here." He explained and Hope nodded in response.

Without needing anything more from the store room, Hadvar and Hope quickly made their way out the door. Finding themselves on top of another staircase. They both walked down it carefully and quietly in case of any more enemies.

When that staircase ended they find a door with yet, another staircase leading down further into the Keep. "Gods..." Sighed Hope as she leaned on the wall for support. "Just how many stairs are there in this place..." She wondered out loud. "Keeps like this are normally designed to go deep underground." Hadvar explained. "Mostly for escape purposes and probably some secrets."

 _'Secrets?'_ Hope wondered with her eyebrow slightly lifting. She watched Hadvar descend down he stairs for a moment before following after him, but not before letting out an annoyed groan that also had a hint of pain in it.

This staircase was much longer than the last, so long that for a moment Hope thought they had died and it was some kind of eternal torment.

"Don't just stand there you big oaf! Help me move this body!" They heard a voice yell from the bottom of the stairs. "Move it yourself grandpa." They heard another reply.

"...More Stormcloaks?" Hope asked with her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure." Hadvar answered as they continued down the stairs slowly.

As they descended and neared the bottom, the scenery around them began to change. It went from being old cracked stone walls, to old cracked stone walls with chains on them that had cuffs attached to the bottom of them. It didn't take Hadvar and Hope long to realize just what kind of room they were walking into.

"Gods..." Whispered Hadvar. "A torture chamber."

 _'You don't say.'_ Hope smarted off to herself as she eyed more chains on the wall, ones that had blood dripping off the bottom of the cuffs and and onto the stairs.

Finally the stairs come to an end and their both now standing in the chamber. Though Hope wished they weren't because of how bad it smelled. It was a combination of burnt flesh and rotting skin.

The moment they came to a stop, the two they heard arguing just moments ago quickly turn towards them with their weapons drawn. But once they see Hadvar and his Imperial armor, they lower their weapons.

Hope examined them both for a moment, one was an older man with a hood covering half of his face. The other was a bit younger and had a much bigger build, kind of like Farkas except his face wasn't as pleasant to look at; with the dried blood splatter onto it and the obvious patch of missing hair on the top of his head where some long hair still grew...

"What are you two still doing here?" Hadvar questioned, knocking Hope out of her thinking.

The older one lifted an eyebrow up at Hadvar. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't we be here?" He asked with his thin arms crossing over his chest. "Don't you know?" Hadvar questioned again with his eyebrows furrowing.

"Know what?" Asked the homely looking one. "Gods, there's a dragon attacking Helgen!" He exclaimed in bewilderment.

The old man quickly scoffed at him before replying. "A dragon? You do know that dragons don't exist right?"

His response had Hadvar's jaw drop and Hope literally slap her forehead. "I believe you." The other one spoke, turning Hope and Hadvar's attention towards him. "Just a bit ago I thought I heard something, but didn't know what to make of it. Not until now at least." He explained.

"Bah! Listen to yourselves!" The old man argued. "Believe what you want, we don't have time for this." Hadvar quickly replied, ending the argument before it could get started.

"Now, are you coming with us or not?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so." The old man stubbornly refused, making Hadvar furrow his eyebrows down at him. "Forget him." The other said. "I'll come with you, no way am I going to wait around for this place to collapse."

Hadvar nodded and then turned to Hope, checking to see if she was okay. Hope noticed and quickly gave him a nod as her answer. "Alright." Sighed Hadvar as he turned to leave the room with the homely looking Imperial right by his side.

Hope quickly follows after them, but before she could make it very far. She runs into something on the ground and nearly falls over. After regaining her footing, she looks down and gasps when she sees that it was a fresh Stormcloak corpse. She stumbled back from it and then quickly go as far as she could around it until she reached Hadvar's side.

Hadvar looked down at it and then shifted his eyes to the side, noticing another one across the room. "Don't mind them." The old man joked, making Hope and Hadvar both quickly look at them with their eyebrows furrowed. "They didn't...appreciate the way we were treating their friends, so we had no choice but to kill them."

"Right." Hope scoffed. "It's a shame, I know." The old man sighed as he sat himself down in a chair. "They would of made perfect test subjects for some methods I've been working on."

Hope scoffed again while turning herself away from the two dead bodies and the old man. "Come on." Hadvar sighed as he quickly took the lead. "Let's just go."

As the three leave the torturing chamber and walk down a narrow hall they hear the old man shout. "There's no way out that way, you know!"

"Don't listen to him." Hadvar whispered as he placed his hand on Hope's back to help her walk along.

Hope nodded as they continued to walk, now finding themselves walking into a small chamber that had cages hanging from the ceiling. She quickly averted her eyes from them, trying not to think of all the things that could fit inside of them.

They walk for a while longer, with nothing but silence and their heavy breathing between them. They walk through a room that looked like it was built inside of some cave. _'Does this mean we're almost out?'_ She couldn't help but think to herself with a flicker of hope appearing in her chest.

"I'm not waiting around to be eaten by a damned dragon!" They all hear a voice shout. "We can't leave until we know for sure that Ulfric escaped!" Another shouted back.

 _'Ulfric...that means their Stormcloaks.'_ The small flicker of hope quickly disperses as her stomach twists into knots just from the thought of more blood shed. As they approached the doorway leading into the large cavern that was filled with Stormcloaks, she heard a small sigh leave Hadvar the moment he saw them. She couldn't help but think that Hadvar was feeling the same way she was.

The Stormcloaks inside the cavern hadn't noticed them yet, so they stayed put just a few steps away from the doorway. "What do we do?" Hope asked as she settled herself against the wall. "What do you think? We fight." Replied the homely Imperial. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him for a moment before looking back to Hadvar.

"We have no other choice..." He sighed with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. _'Great.'_ Hope thought to herself as a frown unconsciously spread across her lips.

Hadvar took notice to it. He slowly approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." He told her. "You stay here, we'll take care of them."

"No." Hope quickly replied. "I can't let you take on that many people...and deaths on your own." She told him.

"I'm not." He said with a small smile. Hope's eyes shifted to the large man behind him and then shifted back to Hadvar. She still didn't like it. The thought of hiding behind a wall while others fight and kill didn't settle well with her at all.

But what choice did she have? With her injuries and slow movements, she'd only get in the way and be a hindrance. Not to mention Hadvar would probably be too worried about her than defending himself against the enemy, and that could quickly lead to his death. The thought of that really didn't settle well with her. Hadvar may have not made the best first impression when they met, but he has helped her and proved to her that he was someone she could trust.

So hesitantly, she nods and then watches them both quickly charge off into the large cavern with their weapons drawn.

The first thing she hears is the Stormcloaks yell and then came the clashing from their weapons. She winced every time she heard two blades meet and when she heard someone yell in pain. Each time she pictured it, it was Hadvar with a blade plunging into his gut and each time that image came to her she felt like she was going to be sick.

"Yeaaah!" She heard Hadvar yell, relieving Hope for just a moment. She them heard another cry of pain and was right back to picturing Hadvar falling injured to the ground. _'Gods...'_ She hears only more fighting and defeated screams. _'Will this ever end?'_

The fighting comes to a slow stop, leaving Hope in complete silence. She stares at the ground with her eyes wide and her back to the wall. She waits for any sign of life but there's nothing. Her chest tightens as fear creeps its way up to her heart, causing it to ache and beat at a fast pace. _'Did he...'_ She quickly shuts her eyes, unable to finish the thought.

The sound of approaching footsteps has Hope's eyes flying back open. She stands completely still against the stone wall with her fearful eyes glued to the ground. Hearing approaching footsteps should have Hope feeling relieved, glad even because it could mean that Hadvar was alive. But it made her feel neither of those things because it could also mean that it wasn't Hadvar and they were coming to finish her off.

When the footsteps neared, Hope quickly shut her eyes; counting each step and anticipating for whoever might walk through the doorway.

"Hey." A familiar voice, Hadvar's voice, made relief spill from Hope's heart and nearly had her falling over. She quickly opened her eyes and looked at him, her jaw immediately dropping when she saw him.

He was completely covered in blood, his face marked with forming bruises, and his arms decorated with fresh, deep cuts. "Gods, Hadvar." Hope said in shock as she stood up from the wall and approached him to examine his wounds. Her eyes scanned his body and caught a glimpse of blood seeping through a tear in his armor. "I'm fine." Was all he said.

"No, you're not fine." Hope argued with her eyebrows furrowing. "I'm in no worse shape than you are, I'll live." He said, trying to dismiss her concern.

Hope frowned at him when he did, she knew that most of his injuries weren't major but she worried about the one on his side. She was just about to argue until she noticed something something else, she noticed that the homely looking Imperial was no longer by Hadvar's side.

She looked up over Hadvar's shoulder, trying to see if maybe he was standing around behind him but she couldn't find him. "He..." Hadvar trails off, trying to collect his words. "He didn't make it..."

Hope moved her eyes back to him and saw that he was looking down with regret pooling in his eyes. "I tried to get to him in time before the Stormcloak plunged his blade through his back, but I couldn't." He explained with a frown forming on his face.

"It wasn't your fault." Hope said, making him slowly look back at her. "I'm sorry you fought alone in there." She told him with her own frown forming. "Don't apologize." Hadvar quickly replied. "It's not your fault that your injured."

"And it's not your fault that he died."

Hadvar winced after she said that, almost like he had just been stabbed in the heart. It was clear to Hope in that moment, that he too could take no more death that day...or that year.

They both walk through the cavern in silence, stepping over bodies. When they passed the Imperial that was with them just moments ago, Hadvar refused to look at him. Hope only glanced at him before quickly looking away. Seeing his lifeless body had her feeling guilty as well, making her think that if she fought with them he would be alive.

When they left the cavern, they came to a wooden bridge that had already been lowered by its lever. "Someone else must of come through here." Hadvar said as he glanced at the wooden lever before crossing the bridge with Hope behind him. _'Maybe some of Helgen's citizens were able to make it out...'_ Hope thought to herself with the little boy that she saved coming to her mind as well as Ralof.

After crossing the bridge, Hope stops in front of a small stair case to examine their new surroundings. In front of her just a few feet away was a small stream, flowing from a small gape in the wall which seemed to be a cave wall.

She looked up and examined stalactite's hanging from the roof. They really were in a cave. "I think we're finally out of the Keep." Said Hadvar, bringing Hope's attention back to him.

"Does that mean we're finally out of danger?" Hope asked and the moment she did they both heard a loud crash from behind them as well as felt the ground shake beneath their feet.

Hope quickly spun around with her eyes widening as she saw a wall of fallen rock now blocking the path behind them. Hadvar stared at the crushed bridge before answering Hope's question. "For now."

She turned and watched him walk down the stairs. He stopped next to the small stream while taking a small drink out of his water-skin. He slides it back into its place at his side before continuing to walk. "Come on, we still need to find a way out."

Hope nodded in response and then quickly followed after him, enjoying the cool air of the cave. It was a nice change from the hot bitter air inside of the Keep.

They walked for a while, following the stream until it led them to a dead end. Luckily, they had another way to go and didn't hesitate to follow the new path, not bothering to waste any time talking about it.

Their new path went on for a ways until it lead them into another fairly sized cavern. It was riddled with webs covering the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Hope tried to convince herself that the webs were from hundreds of small spiders instead of frostbite spiders, but of course she was wrong. The gods haven't given them a break yet, so why would they now?

"Look out!" Shouted Hadvar, making Hope quickly spin around to find a frostbite spider lunging towards her. With out thinking, she jumps out of the way and pays for it when she hits the ground. Because not only did she just hit the ground, she skid across the ground; causing horrific pain to appear in her legs.

"Aah!" She yells in pain. The frostbite spider gets ready to launch again, knowing this time she wasn't able to dodge its attack.

Hope shut her eyes when she saw the spider leap towards her, but before it could claim its meal; Hadvar jumps in front of her and slices the bottom of the spider open while it was in mid-air. It let out a screech of pain before falling to the ground with its guts spilling out. Then out of no where another spider lunges, but it was aiming for Hadvar this time.

Instead of jumping away from the giant spider, he leaped towards it and plunged his blade right between its giant fangs. Hope watched with wide eyes, she couldn't believe that his hand didn't get punctured from one of the poisoned fangs.

After that one falls to the ground dead, Hadvar yanks his sword out of it and looks around for any more.

"Is that...is that all of them?" Hope asked with fear showing in her voice. "I think so." Hadvar panted. Though there were only two of them, they were huge and Hadvar had been fighting more than just the spiders; so he was tired...gods was he tired.

Hope watched him slowly sheathe his sword and then make his way over to her. He wrapped an arm around her while grabbing her arm with his other hand. He slowly helped her back to her feet, hearing her hiss sharply in pain.

Once she's to her feet, Hadvar slowly lets go and takes a step back. "You going to be okay?" He asked, still breathing heavily. "Yeah..." Hope replied. "Are you?" She then asked. "I have to be." He said with a sigh, making pains appear in Hope's chest.

It was because of her that he was so tired, it was because of her that he looked like he was going to faint. Gods...she's never felt so useless before.

"Come on." Hadvar said, pushing Hope out of her regretful thoughts. "Let's keep going, I think...I think we might be close to getting out of here." She hoped so and that's all she could do, was hope and follow Hadvar's lead.

As they walked further through the cave, Hope lagged behind Hadvar until she noticed him come to a fast stop. She panicked when she saw him quickly get low to the ground. _'Gods no...please no more fighting...'_

She quickly got down low to the ground and slowly made her way to Hadvar. "What is it?" She asked with a shaky voice, making it clear to him that she feared another battle. "There's a really big bear over there." He said, his eyes not leaving it.

 _'A bear?'_ Hope furrowed her eyebrows as she followed his eyes with her own. She saw several feet away a big black bear, and it was sleeping. She could see its back slowly rise with its breaths as well as hear small snores leaving its nostrils.

"Do you think..." She trails off, thinking a bit more before speaking. "Do you think we could just sneak around it?"

"Just what I was thinking." Hadvar replied.

 _'Thank the gods.'_

"Come on." He whispered. "Just follow me and watch your footing."

Hope nodded and waited for him to begin.

Hadvar stayed low to the ground as he silently went around the sleeping bear. Hope made sure to stay a good distance behind Hadvar so that she wouldn't accidentally run into him. Hadvar moved quietly without making a noise, while Hope stumbled to her knees several time and kicked small rocks when she moved. She tried her best not to do all of those things, but the pain shooting up her legs from her crouching position made it all impossible.

Luckily the bear seemed to be in a deep sleep because it didn't even twitch when they sneaked around it. If it wasn't for its snoring, Hope would probably mistake it for dead.

Finally after a very long minute, they get far enough away from the bear where they can stand back up and hurry away.

"Gods!" Hadvar exclaims loudly, already forgetting the bear behind them. Hope jumps and quickly looks at him with wide eyes. She's surprised to see tears forming in his eyes. She slowly looks forward and when she does, her breath catches. Tears form in her own eyes as she stares out the opening of the cave and can see trees in the distance.

Hadvar doesn't hesitate to run towards the exit and neither does she, despite the pain in her legs, she runs. Then she's blinded by sunlight, making her have to close her eyes; but she was okay with it. Gods, she was more than okay with it. Skyrim's cold fresh air hits her nostrils like a wall and for the first time since all of this has started, she can breath.

She inhales as deep as she can, enjoying the stinging pain the cold air sends through her lungs and then exhales; enjoying the huge relief it sends through her body. But with that relief came exhaustion, exhaustion that hit her all at once and exhaustion she couldn't fight. With her eyes still closed, she can feel her body begin to sway.

"Shit!" She hears Hadvar curse, but she can't open her eyes to see why. She doesn't need to after she hears a familiar roar high above them, but it soon becomes distant, making a huge relieved sigh escape Hadvar.

"It's gone...gods it's finally gone..." He spoke with disbelief and relief in his voice. He slowly turned around to face Hope. "Hey!" He shouted the moment he saw her.

Her skin had suddenly become pale as her eyes remained closed. "Hey!" Hadvar shouted again while quickly approaching her. But his voice soon became nothing but an echo as well as his footsteps. The darkness behind Hope's eyelids soon consumed her and then before she knew it, she felt herself come into contact with the cold, hard ground beneath her.


	42. Chapter 42

The sound of mumbling voices stirs Hope awake. She tries to move but her body feels like it weighs more than a horker. When she manages to shift her position a bit, she feels something strange, something off.

Instead of feeling the cold hard ground beneath her, she feels a soft bed.

"Gods I know I just slept for hours, but I still feel like I haven't slept in days.." She hears Hadvar speak.

"I hear ya." She hears an unfamiliar man's voice reply. "Not every day you survive a..." He trails off to collect his words. "Dragon attack."

 _'Dragon attack...'_ The image of the dragons burning red eyes flashes behind Hope's eyes, sending a wave of fear through out her body. Without thinking she tries to move her legs and immediately regrets it afterwards. They sting and ache when she slides them against the mattress beneath her.

"Hadvar." An unfamiliar woman's voice speaks, making everyone fall silence. Hope can hear the scooting of a chair when the woman says his name. "I think you're friend is waking up." She said.

Hope slowly opens her eyes and is greeted by a blinding light above her that sends a sharp pain through her head. The bright light was nothing but a blur for a moment until her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room, allowing her to see that it was nothing but a chandelier made of scones that had a small light of fire dancing on the tops of them.

"You're awake, thank the gods." Hadvar said, turning Hope's eyes toward him. She watches him approach the bed and then examine her with worry filling his eyes. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"That depends..." Hope replied dryly. "How do I look?"

Hadvar couldn't help but show a bit of a smirk as he turned his attention to the floor. "You look like you've just escaped a burning city." He told her.

Hope's dry lips spread out into a small smile and when they did a sharp hiss escaped her. She felt a stinging pain spread across her cheek, making her remember the burn she received there. "Watch what you do now." The woman from before said, noticing the quick hint of pain in Hope's eyes.

Hope slowly moved her eyes over towards the bed stand and saw a woman sitting in a chair right next to it. "I just changed that bandage, so it'll probably sting for a bit because of the mixture I put on your burn." She explained.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly brought her hand up to her face and ran her fingers down the cloth bandage pasted to her burn. "It looks like it's getting better though." The woman continued. "I think it'll scar but...I can't say the same for your legs..." She said with her eyes slowly trailing down to Hope's bandaged legs.

"You should be lucky it's all but scars you have to worry about." The man that Hadvar was just speaking to said. Hope moved her eyes to him and watched him approach her bed and stand next to Hadvar. "I actually thought you were going to lose your legs when Hadvar carried you inside. In fact, I was sure it was your life you were going to lose instead of your legs..." He told her with a small frown.

Hope's eyebrows pinched together as she looked back to Hadvar. "You carried me here?" She asked. Hadvar nodded and then replied with a shrug following after. "Didn't have much choice."

"You fell unconscious when we escaped through the cave and my Aunt here has always been skilled with remedies, so I knew she and my Uncle would be the best people to come to."

"It's no trouble at all." His uncle said. "In fact I'm glad you both came here. If you hadn't and I'd heard what happened to Helgen from someone else...well...to say that I'd of worried is putting it lightly."

"Have you..." Hope trails off as images of the burned bodies and crashing buildings flood back into her mind. "Have you seen anyone else from Helgen come this way?" She asked, hoping they weren't the only survivors.

"No..." Hadvar answered grimly.

Hope blinked at him for a moment and then asked. "Just...what is this way? Where are we?"

"You're in Riverwood." Hadvar's aunt answered as she grabbed a damp rag and started dabbing it on Hope's dirty forehead.

 _'Gods...Riverwood.'_ Whiterun was just a few hours walk away from Riverwood and the realization of that had Hope's heart yearning for Jorrvaskr.

She could already smell the fresh mead and food when the warm hall of the building comes to her mind. But as the welcoming smells came to her, so did smoke and fire. One moment she's picturing the old wooden building and then the next she sees the dragon perched on it, burning her friends alive.

Gods, the very thought of that made her feel sick and worried. If they were able to make it to Riverwood from Helgen, then could that mean that the dragon passed over and spotted the great city? Did it not sate its appetite with Heglen? Did it need more? Did it need Whiterun?

Without thinking, Hope sits up and immediately regrets it. Pain spider-webbed its way through her ribs and then up to her spine, making her feel like she was going to fall back down. But she didn't, despite the pain in her legs, she throws them over the side of the bed and tries to stand.

Hadvar's aunt gasps as she tries to quickly lay Hope back down. "No no, you can't get up yet! You must rest, please!" She pleaded but Hope didn't listen. She just removed her hands from her shoulders and stood up to her feet. She stumbled forward a bit, but Hadvar caught her before she could fall face first onto the floor.

"What are you doing? Why are you in such a panic?" He asked with his eyebrows knit together with confusion.

"I have to-" She stops to take a deep breath, she didn't realize just how much she was panicking until Hadvar said something. "I have to get to Whiterun, they might be in danger!" She exclaimed. "If..." She then trails off, with tears collecting in her eyes. "If they're even still there..."

Hadvar stares at her for a moment before asking. "You mean..you're group? The Companions?"

Hope nodded in response, she couldn't bare the thought of whats happened to Helgen happening to Whiterun, or Rorikstead for that matter. Because her village, her family there came to her mind too and she knew it was the closest town after Whiteruh. Gods...just picturing her sisters trapped under a burning building or her father running from an endless river of fire had tears rolling from her eyes. She needed to see, she needed to make sure that the dragon wasn't anywhere near Whiterun or Rorikstead.

"I thought you looked familiar." Hadvar's uncle spoke, making them both turn their attention towards him. "You were the one that took care of that scum a few months back, weren't you?" He asked.

Hope stared at him for a moment and then nodded.

"Well it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. Nobody can take on wounds like you have and walk all the way to Whiterun!" Hadvar's aunt pointed out as she stood up from her chair with her hands landing on her hips, making her look like a scolding mother.

"She's right." Hadvar said, looking back at Hope. "You have to rest, you have to at least stay here for another night." He told her, making her eyes go wide.

"I've been here for a whole night!" Hope exclaimed in disbelief. "A bit more than that I think." Hadvar's uncle said.

Gods no! Then that could mean Whiterun and Rorikstead could already be gone, burned to the ground just like Helgen.

Hope's legs suddenly become weak as her knees start to tremble. She has to tighten her hold on Hadvar to keep herself from falling to the floor. "I have to-" She said in a panicked breath. "I have to go to Whiterun...I have to...I have to see!"

"Calm down." He said in a soothing voice. His hand landing on the side of her face as his thumb wiped away a falling tear. Hope stared up at him with her bottom lip beginning to tremble. "I promise you that I've been keeping my eyes on the sky ever since we got here and I haven't seen the dragon fly over Riverwood or head towards Whiterun." He explained. "I'd tell you if I did." He assured her.

"But..but still..." Hope cried. "I have to..." She lets go of Hadvar and stumbles over to the door. "I have to see. I have to warn them, they all need to know. Everyone."

Hadvar stepped forward to stop her, but his uncle stopped him. "She's right you know..."

Hadvar turned and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "If they're really is a dragon about, Riverwood is defenseless and we've seen no one new pass through Riverwood since you've been here." His uncle continued. "So unless others took a longer route to Whiterun, the Jarl probably has no clue of what's happened."

"I get that, I do." Hadvar sighed. "But she is in no condition to make such a walk." He pointed out.

"You can't force someone to stay when they want to leave." His uncle said with a nod towards Hope. Hadvar turned his head back and saw that she had already opened the door. "Wait!" He shouted, making her stop in the middle of the doorway.

She put her weight on the door knob as she slowly turned to face Hadvar. His eyes were filled with worry as his eyebrows pinched together tightly, trying to decide on what to do.

"Gods." He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This would all be so much easier if I could just go with you..."

"Why can't you?" Asked Hope.

"Jarl Balgruuf has yet to take a side in the war." Hadvar's uncle began to explain. "So he prefers that no soldier from either side of it enter his capital. His way of keeping the majority of his people out of the war I suppose." He said with a shrug.

"So if you do go, you'll be going alone and the thought of you collapsing somewhere on the road really doesn't sit well with me." Hadvar told her with more worry spilling from his eyes.

"But I have to, I have no choice." Hope replied, causing a shaky sigh to escape Hadvar.

"Well if you do go, I can't in good conscious send you out there without some help." Hadvar's aunt said, turning everyone's attention towards her.

She was now standing over their dining table pouring water into a water-skin. She then wrapped up some bread and approached Hope, holding them both out to her. Hope slowly took the water-skin, but refused the food. Just thinking about taking a bite out of anything made her want to be sick.

"Listen." His uncle approached her. "I don't expect you to you make it all the way up to Dragonsreach, in fact I don't want you to try. I just need you to find someone either on the road or in the city and let them know what has happened."

"What if they won't listen?" Hope asked with a worrisome frown.

"Make them listen, tell them whats happened to Helgen or send them here and Hadvar can tell them himself." His uncle told her. "Do that..and we'll all be in your debt." He said with a small nod.

Hope stared at him for a moment before giving him a nod back and then turning towards the open door to leave. "Be careful." Hadvar quickly said, making Hope turn her head towards him. Worry still filled his eyes, but he wasn't stopping her this time. He knew his uncle was right, even if he didn't like it.

"Thank you Hadvar." Hope said. "I wouldn't of made it out of there with out you."

Hadvar gave her a slow nod in response and then watched her walk out the door, wishing he could go with her.

"Vilkas!" The sound of his name being called so loudly had Vilkas nearly falling out of his chair. "You have stones in your ears boy?" It was Eorlund and apparently he's been calling Vilkas's name for a while.

"What?" Vilkas asked with his attention finally on Eorlund.

Eorlund stares at him for a moment and then sighs. "I asked if you know if Hope has returned yet." He said.

Vilkas quickly turns away from him with his eyes going back to the table "No, she hasn't." He told him.

"Really? Still?" Eorlund questioned with his eyebrows pinching together.

Vilkas fully turned his head away from Eorlund, trying to force himself not to think about it, even though it's all he's thought about for days. Because days ago, Hope should of returned. In fact, it's been nearly two weeks since they've expected her back and it's been driving Vilkas insane. Making him want to go out there himself to find her, but he always stopped himself because he was sure she would be back the next day. Well, it's been several next days and she has yet to come home.

"It was just a simple job right?" Eorlund asked.

"It had something to do with trolls, but I thought..." Vilkas trails off to let out a deep sigh before grabbing at his mug and taking a big drink out of it.

"Trolls, huh?" Eorlund said as he watched Vilkas gulp down half his mead. "Then that should've been no trouble, right?"

"You would think." Vilkas sighed as he put his mug back down onto the table.

"Well, I'm sure she's fine. You know that sometimes carriages aren't always available, so maybe she just had to walk some of the way back."

"Maybe." Vilkas shrugged and also silently hoped.

Eorlund stared at him for a moment before turning around and walking away. "Well when she does come back, do send her my way. I've finished that armor she's requested and I'd hate to see it go to waste." He said with a wave of his hand.

Vilkas slightly turned his head and watched him walk away. _'When she comes back.'_ He told himself. In fact that was something he's been telling himself for awhile now. Every time he felt doubt or worry he'd just try to convince himself that she was okay and she was coming back, but there was something in the back of his mind, in the back of his heart that told him something different.

A heavy sigh left Vilkas as he quickly got out of his seat, moving it back so hard and loud that everyone outside turned to look at him. "Something troubling you boy?" Skjor asked with his usual snarl. Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at him before walking past him and towards the training dummies. He needed something to take his frustrations and worries out on.

"If you're that bored, why don't you go see if Aela and the others need help." Said Skjor.

Vilkas turned around and looked at him with a lifted eyebrow. "What others? What are they doing?" He asked.

"Farkas and Ria. They've been called out to take care of a giant that's wondered onto a farmers land just outside of Whiterun. They just left a few moments ago and I'm sure they could use the help. It is a giant after all." He explained.

Vilkas stared at him for a moment, thinking on what he wanted to do. A giant was a pain to deal with, especially one that has decided to torment farmers for their food. But it was something to do and it would be a nice distraction from his thoughts. "Alright, where's this giant causing trouble?" He asked.

"Pelagius farm, you know the one." He told him.

"Right." Vilkas sighed as he turned and walked away, grabbing his great-sword off the weapons rack as he walked by it.

Ragged breathing left Hope as she dragged her wounded legs down the stone road. It was a normal cold day in Skyrim, but all Hope could feel was the suns heat pouring down on top of her. Sweat bead up on her brow and slowly trailed down her face. Her mouth hung open as she desperately breathed for air, making her tongue dryer than it was before.

She came to a slow stop on the road as she took the water-skin that was given to her from her belt. She opened it with shaky fingers and then held it to her mouth, she was able to get a good gulp but that was it.

In that moment she regretted how much she chugged out of the water-skin when she first left Riverwood, because now it was all gone and she was going to have to make the rest of the way to Whiterun with out any water. She threw the water-skin down to the ground with out any care as she continued on down the road.

Small whimpers and painful grunts escaped her throat as she dragged her legs along. She hasn't looked at them since she's left Riverwood, but she knew they were bleeding. The fresh scabs that once covered her burns had either been rubbed off by the wraps around her legs or fell apart as she walked, and she could feel the wraps begin to soak with blood.

"Gods..." She breathed out as she bowed her head while she continued to walk. She's not even half way to Whiterun yet, how in the gods name was she going to get there the rest of the way?

"Ria, look out!" Farkas shouted as the giant was heaving its massive club in the air. Ria quickly looked up at it with wide eyes before jumping out of the way. When its club landed on the ground it created a small crater beneath it, sending dirt and rocks flying through the air. Vilkas and Farkas both coughed as they tried to blink the dust out of their eyes as fast as they could.

The giant then let out a howl of pain as an arrow landed on the back of its neck. The arrow stuck out but it didn't do any real damage to it. The giant turned in the direction the arrow came from and when it did, Aela already had a new one knocked back.

She gave it a smug grin before releasing that arrow and then watching it land in one of the giants eyes. It howled in pain again as it stumbled back clumsily. Farkas and Vilkas both took the opportunity to run to both sides of its legs and slice their blades into the back of its knees, causing it to completely topple back.

"Ria, do it now!" Shouted Aela.

On her command, Ria sprints to the fallen giants and smashes its skull with her steal mace. With blood splattering all over her, she quickly drops her weapon and shield to immediately get it off of her face. "Ugh!" She exclaimed in disgust.

Aela chuckled as her and the other two Companions walked over to Ria. "Nicely done." She told her with a smile.

"Gods, that took longer than I thought it would." Vilkas exhaled as he wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm.

"No kidding." Replied Farkas. "I thought we were never going to get it to stop going after the farmers."

"Are they okay by the way?" Ria asked with her eyebrows knitting together.

"Yes, I saw them run into their home after we averted the giants attention from them." Aela answered.

"Oh, good." Ria sighed in relief.

Vilkas watched them continue to talk for a moment before letting his eyes wonder down towards the giant. He was examining it for a bit before getting lost in his thoughts and worries once more.

 _'What was that?'_ In the distance, Hope saw something large topple over. For a moment she thought it was a giant, but who could take down a giant just like that?

That's when it comes to her, the Companions are who can take down a giant down just like that. Gods, there they are, she can see them. She can't make out who they are but she can see that there are at least four of them. She hurries, she tries to hurry at least. The blood from her wounds runs down her legs through the wraps and she fears that they are now infected.

Her mouth falls open as she watches the group of Companions walk to the stone road and then turn their backs to her. _'No, gods no.'_ A strangled cry left her throat as she tried to pick up the pace, but she couldn't. Any minute she knew she was going to fall over and then its all lost. Eventually everyone will hear about the dragon attack but how long will eventually take? Eventually could be too late and if Hope were to fall here, it would also be the end of her and she knew the blood seeping from her bandages would attract wolves, and they would drag her body off to gods know where. No one will ever know what had happened to her.

 _'Please turn around, please see me.'_ She silently begged with tears streaming from her eyes.

"So, has there been any word on that giant trail of smoke we all saw yesterday?" Ria asked as they walked down the road. "No, non. I know that the Jarl sent soldiers to investigate it though, but that's about it." Farkas told her.

"Weird...it looked like it was coming from a fire big enough to burn down a whole city." Ria stated.

"Well, lets hope not." Aela cut in.

They all continue to walk for a moment longer before Ria comes to a quick stop, nearly making Farkas run into her. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I forgot my mace! I dropped it on the ground!" She said while turning around. "I swear you would lose your head if it wasn't attached." Muttered Aela as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Ria walked down the road a bit before coming to a fast stop. She furrows her eyebrows as she narrows her eyes at something she sees on the road. It looked like a person, but it was walking strange.

She takes a few more steps down the road before breaking into a glad smile. "Hey!" She called to the others, making them turn around and face her. "It's Hope!" She exclaimed happily with a finger pointing out in the distance.

The others quickly walk over to her, especially Vilkas, and look where she's looking. "Well I'll be damned, she's finally back." Aela said with a small smile. "And you were worried." She laughed as she gave Vilkas a playful punch to the arm, but he didn't react.

He just stood there, watching her walk with his eyebrows furrowed because he knew something was wrong. Aela took notice, examining his face for a moment. "What's wrong?" She asked with Farkas looking at him as well.

Before he had the chance to answer, a gust of wind blew by, carrying with it the smell of blood and smoke. "Wait.." Ria trails off with her eyebrows furrowing. She wasn't able to smell what the others did, but she could see that something wasn't right by the way Hope was walking. "I think something's wrong." Before the full sentence could even leave her mouth, the others were moving past her.

They quickly made their way down the road with eyes glued on Hope. Vilkas's eyes were wide as he watched her move her head up and then heard what sounded like a cry. Then, she was down. First falling to her knees and then to her side.

"Hope!" Ria cried as all four were now sprinting down the road with Vilkas in the lead.

When he reached Hope he came to a skidding stop before immediately getting down to his knees. "Gods!" Farkas exclaimed when he saw her.

Vilkas quickly wrapped an around her and sat her up while holding her close to his chest. "Liah!" He said her name with out thinking. "Gods!" He looked down to her legs and saw the blood running through her soaked bandages. "What happened to you!?"

"Vilkas, thank the gods." She cried as she held onto his arm tightly. Vilkas quickly scooped her up into his arms and stood to his feet, immediately taking off down the road. "We need to get her to the healers!" Aela said as she and the other two quickly ran behind him.

"Vilkas..." Hope cried again with her heavy head resting on his shoulder. "No, don't speak." He quickly told her. "You have to...you have..." She started to go in and out of consciousness.

"The Jarl...he needs to know." She said barely above a whisper as she gripped Vilkas's arm tightly. Vilkas didn't stop running, but he was listening. "He needs to know...Helgen..."

Aela and Farkas both furrowed their eyebrows and exchanged looks. Both coming to a quick realization about the massive smoke they saw just the other day.

The rest of the way to Whiterun, they kept hearing more come from Hope but each time she spoke, she became quieter. She was slowly slipping into unconsciousness, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. As they ran down the streets of Whiterun, Vilkas heard the words. "Soldiers, captured, and then something that fell into a mumble, something he thought he could make out but didn't believe when he heard it.

"Take her to my room in Jorrvaskr, I'll go get the healers." Aela told them as they rushed up the stairs. They quickly made their way around the building, startling everybody that was outside. They watched with wide eyes as Vilkas kicked open one of the doors.

"Kodlak!" He shouted as they rushed through the dining hall. Kodlak's eyes widened as he quickly got up from his chair and hurried to follow Vilkas down the stairs with Skjor right behind him. "What happened?!" He asked as he examined Hope in Vilkas's arms. "We don't know." Farkas told him as they rushed through the hall to reach Aela's room.

Vilkas crashed into Aela's room in a panic and then made his way over to her bed to lay Hope down. A painful whimper, one that tore Vilkas's insides up, left Hope as he gently laid her down onto the bed. Kodlak quickly stepped through everyone and made his way to Hope's side. He placed his hand on the side of her face and turned it towards him. "Are you with us girl?" He said with a bit of panic showing in his voice.

Hope slowly opened her eyes to look at him. At the same time her chest started to rise and then fall at a fast pace. Then all of a sudden, Hope sits up with her hands quickly grabbing onto both of Kodlak's shoulders. "Dragon!" She yells so loud it makes everyone in the room jump. "It was a dragon! A dragon came and killed everyone!" She screamed with tears streaming from her eyes as the memories came flooding back. "It burned when it looked at me! When it looked at me with those glowing red eyes!" She screamed again and then just like that, she was out. Her eyes fell close and her body hit the bed hard.


	43. Chapter 43

"Is she going to be okay?" Asked Vilkas as he sat back in a chair and watched the healers from the Temple of Kynareth work on Hope. "Yes." The priestess told him. "I can tell from the bruises that she has a few broken ribs. The burns on her legs are severe and had started to get infected, but they are treatable. Though they will most likely scar." She explained.

"All in all." She sighed. "She'll just need some good rest after this. She also shouldn't be allowed to leave the bed unless its for minor reasons." The priestess told them. "If she were to do anything drastic like she did making her way back to Whiterun, her wounds will not heal right and the severe burns on her legs will crack and get infected again."

"Understood." Replied Kodlak, who was leaning against the wall by the door. Only he and the circle members were present in the room. The priestess lets out a tired sigh as she stands up straight from the bed. "Now, I would ask you all to leave the room so that we may change this young woman into fresh clothing. I'd imagine she would appreciate getting out of her burned armor." She said with a soft smile as she looked at each of them.

They all nodded in response and left the room. Vilkas stopped in the doorway, looking at Hope once more before leaving with the door shutting behind him. He stared at the shut door with a heavy sigh escaping from him. "Vilkas." Aela said, making him turn to look at her.

"Hm?" He questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Aela stared at him for a moment before moving her eyes down to his armor. "I'd advice you get changed also." She told him.

Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her before looking down at his armor to see what she was talking about. One of his gauntlets were covered in blood as well as the bottom half of his armor and it wasn't just any blood. It was Hope's blood, it was Liah's. "Gods." He breathed as he quickly rushed past her to reach his room.

He rushed across the hallway and into his room. The moment the door shut behind him, he yanked his gauntlets off and threw them across his room. He then rushed to take off his cuirass and he was in such a hurry that he struggled. Gods, he just couldn't get his armor off fast enough.

After struggling for a while, Vilkas finally had his armor off and some normal cloths on. He slipped on a pair of regular boots before heading back into the hallway and making his way over to where everybody else was standing.

"So...do you think there was any truth to what Hope was saying?" Asked Farkas as he had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes facing the floor.

"Which part? Because it all sounded like madness to me." Aela said with her own eyes looking away from everybody.

"I don't know if what she said was true, but I do know that you can't just act like that without going through something horrible." Skjor cut in, taking everyone by surprise. It wasn't very often when he showed remorse or sympathy, it wasn't often when he showed any type of emotion really.

"True..." Aela trailed off with a frown spreading across her lips. "Did you see the look in her eyes? It was complete terror, almost like she was still living through...whatever happened to her."

Vilkas sighed when he stopped next to his brother and looked at the closed door. "Her wounds..." Farkas said with grimace on his face. "I don't think they were from the trolls..." He pointed out.

"No kidding ice brain." Aela retorted with her eyebrows furrowed.

"We won't know what did that to her or what happened to her until she wakes up." Kodlak said, finally speaking up after being lost in his own thoughts.

Everyone turned and looked at him as he continued. "Let us get back to business for now, we'll get some answers when Hope is awake and well. Until then, lets just let her rest."

Everyone nodded and began to walk away until Vilkas stopped them. "But I think..." He trails off, trying to remember the things that she said when they were running back to Whiterun. "I think she wanted us to tell the Jarl something..." He told them.

"That's right." Farkas nodded. "I heard her say something about Helgen too."

"Do you think...she wanted us to tell him what happened to Helgen? What created that fire?" Vilkas wondered out-loud.

"Tell him what?" Aela retorted again. "Tell him that a dragon flew in and burned the whole city down? He'd first have us exiled from Whiterun for being mad before ever believing such a tale."

"I don't know, Hope sounded pretty sure that it was a dragon." Farkas said.

"As I said before." Kodlak cut in, making them all shut their mouths. "We don't know what happened and we won't until she wakes up. So we do nothing for the time being. Understand?" He told them with his eyes landing specifically on Vilkas.

"Understood." Aela and Farkas both said at the same time. Kodlak didn't look away until Vilkas gave him a small nod. Kodlak then gave him a soft smile before turning and walking away with the others.

Vilkas watched them for a moment before turning towards the closed door, staring at it for a bit and then turning away to follow after the others in the hallway.

The priestesses didn't take much longer on tending to Hope, before they left they let the others know that one of them would return in a day to check on her wounds. After they left, Kodlak had Tilma checking on Hope every hour and each time she did, Vilkas would wait for her to come tell them that Hope was awake, but so far he's been very disappointed.

 _Bodies burning to a crisp, buildings crashing and catching on fire, screams filling the air, the little boy crying for his father echos in her head. Sweat forms on her brow as she feels her heart beating against her chest. Gods, she's back. She's back in Helgen. But why is she back? She shouldn't be back, she doesn't want to be back._

 _Suddenly a thunderous roar appears above her, making her breath catch and her heart stop. Then the sky goes black and all she can see is fiery red eyes, burning into her soul._

Hope awakens with a sharp gasp, her body immediately sitting up and then immediately regretting it. Like the last time she woke up, sharp pain spiraled through her ribs and into her back, then down her spine. Her legs also throbbed with pain as well, she felt like they were going to fall off any moment.

She groaned as she rubbed her legs from the outside of the blanket for a moment. But then stopped, realizing that she had a blanket on. She quickly looked up and around, recognizing the room she was in. She was in Aela's room. She was in Jorrvaskr. She was home.

 _'Thank the gods.'_ She sighed in relief as she slowly closed her eyes, enjoying the stillness of the room. With everything that's happened, she felt like it's been ages since she's been able to just sit in the quiet, to just rest.

Despite the pain in her ribs, she took in deep breaths. Enjoying the familiar scent of Jorrvaskr, one she missed and thought she was never going to be able to enjoy again. _'Gods, I'm really back...'_

The moment of peace and stillness that she was enjoying only lasted her a moment. Her eyes fly open as she remembers what she had originally intended to do when she left Riverwood. It was obvious that no dragon had come to Whiterun, but what of Rorikstead? And even if it hadn't destroyed Rorikstead either, it could still be out there. Claiming hundreds of more lives just like it did in Helgen and whats more is that she has no idea if she ever did tell anyone about what happened. She remembers nothing past when Vilkas and the others reached her on the road.

So she needed to get up, no matter how much her body begged her to stay down, she needed to get up and tell somebody as soon as possible.

The moment she made the motion to do so, the wooden door to her room creaks and then is pushed open. Hope slightly jumps at the sudden noise and watches it open, waiting to see who it was that was entering the room.

It was Tilma and she was walking into the room with a large bowl of warm water and a dry rag hanging over the edge of it. "Oh!" She exclaimed when she saw Hope sitting up in bed. She then gave Hope a glad smile while quickly entering the room to set the bowl down on the end table next to the bed. "I see you're finally awake. The others were beginning to really worry about you." She told Hope.

Hope blinks and stares at her for a moment before asking. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Tilma answered as she dipped the rag in the warm water before handing it to Hope.

Hope stared at it before pressing it to her forehead. The heat from the moist rag had Hope's eyes falling shut and her body laying back down. Gods was she exhausted.

"Is Kodlak around?" Hope asked in a tired voice as she allowed her eyes to stay shut.

"He is, I believe he's upstairs eating dinner with the others." Tilma answered.

Hope slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her. "I need to speak to him, but I don't think I can make it up the stairs. Could you please go tell him that I'm awake and need to talk to him? It's important." She told her.

"Of course dear, I was just about to go do that anyways." Tilma replied with her usual kind smile.

She gave Hope one more smile before leaving the room with the door shutting behind her. Hope lets out a deep sigh as she closes her eyes again and focuses on the soothing heat coming off the rag laying on her forehead. She knew it was wrong to be so relaxed at a time like this, but she couldn't help it and even if she could, her body probably wouldn't allow her to reject it. _'I'll just rest my eyes until Kodlak gets here...'_

The sound of approaching footsteps forces Hope to wake up, she was asleep only for a minute but that minute of sleep was the deepest she's had in what feels like a long time.

She slowly turned her head and watched the wooden door open with Kodlak and the other circle members behind him. Kodlak sighs in relief when he sees that Tilma spoke the truth. "Gods, is it good to see you awake girl." He told her with a warm smile as he entered the room with the others quickly trailing behind him.

She watched him approach her bed and then watched as the others scattered through out the room, all wanting to be able to see her. "How are you feeling?" Aela asked as she stood at the foot of the bed. "I'm..." Hope trails off from her response, because she couldn't really answer that. She hurt all over, so should she say she's in pain? She's completely drained, so should she say she's exhausted? Her chest aches with a heavy pain and her mind hurts from the recurring images flashing in her brain, so...should she say she's broken?

Without having an answer for Aela, she slowly sits up, quickly turning her attention back to Kodlak and hesitantly asking. "Did I...say anything to any of you...before?"

"You did." Farkas answered, turning her attention towards him. "But...it was hard to...hear." He cleared his throat.

Hope blinked at him and then slowly looked down towards the blanket covering her. "Tell us girl, what happened to you?" Kodlak asked with concern showing in his voice.

The images of burning buildings and the sounds of screams flash in her head, making her quickly bring her hands up to her face and covering her eyes with them. She tried to rid the horrid images from her mind, but she couldn't. She knew she needed to tell them, they needed to know. But she couldn't bring herself to speak, the only thing she could get out was a small whimper as the bottom of her lip began to tremble.

She pressed her fingers onto her eyes until she started to see small stars behind her lids. They covered up the images, but they didn't get rid of the screams echoing in her ears. Gods, she must look like a weeping coward to the others.

The room stayed quiet for a good awhile until Hope inhaled and then exhaled a shaky breath. She slowly lowered her hands from her eyes and opened them, once again staring down at the blanket covering her. "Where do I even begin..." She whispered.

"Just start from the beginning." Kodlak said, making her slowly look up at him. "Take your time if you must, but we need to know what happened."

Hope stared at him for a moment longer before giving him a slow nod. Just like he said, she started at the beginning.

She told them when the Imperials surrounded her in the forest and then explained how they over powered her and then threw her in the back of the carriage with the Stormcloaks. When she did, she saw anger stir in the backs of their eyes, especially Vilkas's. She even heard Aela scoff and Skjor have a look of disgust on his face, actually showing that he might care a little.

After that, she told them about Helgen and then about the headsmen. She couldn't help but explain how when her head laid down on the stone, she could feel the soldiers blood beneath her. She even held a hand up to her neck where the dried blood used to be. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Vilkas shifting around in the chair he had sat in. Obviously not feeling too thrilled about the story so far.

She paused for a moment after the headsman's block, not sure on how to proceed or on how to tell them. She bit her lower lip as she moved her eyes back down, vividly remembering it's thunderous roars and how it landed on the tower directly above her...staring down at her with it's red eyes. She quickly shuts her eyes, getting rid of the image.

She takes in a slow breath as she opens her eyes back up, continuing to stare down at the blanket on her. "At first..." She trails off, hearing its roar echo in her ears again. "At first...I thought it was just thunder, but then I realized there were no clouds in the sky..."

"Then it came, first as a shadow that nearly covered the whole village..." Hope's voice strains as she tightly shuts her eyes again, trying to keep the images away as well as a rise of panic. But she couldn't, it was all still too fresh in her mind.

"Then it was above me, perched on the stone tower, it's weight making cracks form in its foundation." Her voice shook. "A dragon."

The room fell into an uncomfortable, intense silence. One that had everyone shifting around uncomfortably. Hope kept her eyes shut as she took in a deep breath and continued. "It...burned the town...burned the people." Flashes of corpses littering the ground appeared in her mind as well as the awful smell and smoke that rose up off them.

"I...barely escaped." She felt fresh tears slide down her cheeks, no matter how hard she tried to keep them in, they escaped anyway. "I had to rely on someone else to survive..." Now a great shame overwhelms her, making more tears form in the corner of her eyes. Gods, she must of looked like a pathetic mess.

She moved her hands back up to her face, recovering her eyes with them. After a long pause and a few deep breaths. She wiped the tears away and looked back up at Kodlak, seeing the disbelief but also fear in his eyes.

"After we escaped Helgen, the dragon flew off but I don't know what direction. That's why despite of my condition, I came to Whiterun because I feared..." She stared at Kodlak for a moment longer before turning her eyes to everybody else in the room. They all had their lips in tight lines and their eyes facing the ground. "Have..have non of you really seen it? Has no one received word?" Hope questioned in disbelief.

"We saw the smoke." Vilkas spoke this time, making Hope look at him. She watched him close his eyes and rub his forehead, obviously trying to make sense of everything she just told them. "But we..no one knew it was Helgen and..no one knew that it was a..." He couldn't even say the word, because he wasn't even sure if he believed it.

"All we know is that the Jarl sent soldiers in the direction of the smoke the other day, other than that, nothing." Aela told her.

Gods...they had no clue, no one's seen anything or heard anything..did any of them even believe her?

"I'm...I'm telling the truth." She told them with a bit of panic showing her voice. "It was a dragon, I watched it-" Her voice breaks when the boys father's corpse comes back to her. She swallows a hard lump rising in her throat, one that made her whole chest ache before finishing her sentence. "I watched it kill people..." She said softly.

"You sure it was a dragon? You weren't hallucinating?" Skjor abruptly asked, making Hope look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Hallucinating?" She questioned. "You think..."

"Just have to be sure..." Skjor sighed as he looked down. "You have to understand it's uh...a little hard to believe." He told her.

She knew that, she knew it would be and knew that the chance of them believing her was slim. So why did it hurt when Skjor questioned her?

Hope took in a slow, deep breath before throwing the blankets off her legs. "Fine, if don't want to believe me, than don't. But that doesn't mean that it's not out there killing more people and destroying villages as we speak." Ignoring the pain in her legs, she throws them over the side of the bed and starts to stand, which makes everyone in the room quickly jump and rush to her.

"No! Don't stand!" Vilkas told her as he and Kodlak both tried to sit her back down, but she refused. "I have to, I have to go tell the Jarl. I promised!" She said as she quickly pushed their hands off her. "If you could barely make it to Whiterun, what makes you think you can walk all the way up to Dragonsreach?" Aela said as she quickly walked over and stood between Kodlak and Vilkas.

"Well I have to try." Hope said through clenched teeth, the pain from her legs obviously getting to her. "Let us do that." Kodlak said with a gentle voice. Hope looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together, not sure if she believed him or not.

"Why would you? Non of you seem to believe me." With out realizing it, her voice shook and her bottom lip trembled.

"Please understand our hesitation lass, everything that has happened to you...it's a lot to take in." He explained, making Hope look down with guilt in her eyes.

"Now please, you really must lay back down. Let us give your message to the Jarl and we shall see what he has to say about it." Kodlak said with both of his hands gently laying on her shoulders.

Hope stared at him for a moment before nodding and then slowly sitting back down on the bed. "Now, get some more rest. You need it." He told her with a warm smile. Hope slowly nodded again, suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion coming over her.

After one last look at Hope, the others turn and leave the room, all except Vilkas. He had started to leave, but hearing a sharp hiss from Hope had him stop and turn around to face her. He watched her struggle to get her legs back up on the bed. "Here." He said as he walked over to her. "Let me help."

He carefully picked both of her legs up with is hands and then lifted them up to the bed. Hope winced in pain but once they were settled, they felt better. "Thanks..." She sighed as she watched Vilkas pick up the blanket and cover her legs with it.

Vilkas nodded and then stood back up straight, he looked over Hope once more before turning to leave. But she quickly stops him by grabbing his arm. "Wait!"

Vilkas turns his head towards her and looks at her with his eyebrows knit together. "What's wrong?" He asked as he fully turned to face her.

"I..I need you to do something for me..." She said with her eyes slowly moving away from him.

"What?" Vilkas asked again with concern showing in his voice.

"I..need you to check on Rorikstead for me..." She told him.

"Roristead?" He questioned with pinched eyebrows.

Hope quickly nodded while looking back up at him. "You know..you know I have family there and I fear..." She choked at the end of the sentence, not being able to bare the images coming to her mind.

"You fear that...the...uh..." Vilkas trails off, bringing a hand up to his forehead to rub it. "You fear the..dragon..." He sighed, showing the irritation he was feeling from hardly being able to get the word out.

"You don't believe me either, do you?" Hope asked with a frown.

Vilkas looked back up at her and felt his heart sink in his chest when he saw the hurt look in her eyes. He knew she had the right to be upset at everyone's hesitation, especially after surviving such a thing. It was just...hard to...grasp.

But with out thinking, Vilkas gently lays a hand on the side of her cheek, taking Hope aback for a minute before allowing herself to relax against it. "I believe you." He told her, making a spark of relief light in her eyes. He wasn't sure if he meant it or not, but he knew she needed to hear it and she needed him to check on her family for her.

"I'll go to Rorikstead." He said. "I'll make sure they're okay."

A deep, relieved sigh leaves Hope as her shoulders relax and she closes her eyes. "Thank you..." She said in another sigh.

Vilkas caressed her cheek with his thumb and she leaned into it, enjoying his gentle touch. Vilkas then slowly took his hand away and stepped back from her bed. Hope opened her eyes and looked up at him with exhaustion spilling from them.

"Get some rest." Vilkas told her softly. "I'll be back."

Hope gave him a small nod before slowly laying back against the soft pillow that had been calling her name since she awoke. Vilkas watched her for a moment, seeing her already beginning to drift off into sleep. His reaction to that was wanting to place a soft kiss on her forehead, but he didn't. He just left the room and let her be.

 _'Gods...'_ He sighed as he quickly walked down the hallway, thinking back on the things that Hope had told them. _'It was a dragon.'_ Her words ring in his head, making him come to a quick stop in the middle of the hallway.

He brings a hand to his forehead and rubs it again, feeling another tension head ache coming on. Could it of really been a dragon? If not, then what else could give Hope wounds like that? What else could create a fire large enough to consume a whole village? What else could-

The look of terror in Hope's eyes when she first spoke of the dragon flashes in Vilkas's head. Making him feel a pit form in his stomach, if it wasn't a dragon, what else could make Hope break like that?

And to think, she went through all of that alone. She was wrongly captured and hauled off to a village that was far out of her way. Just what was going through her head? He wondered. What was she thinking the whole time she was riding from Darkwater crossing to Helgen? Was she scared? Did she fear for her life? Did she feel alone?

The image of Hope going through all of that made Vilkas's chest have a strange kind of ache to it. _'I watched it kill people.'_ Her voice echoed in his head again, reminding him of how it broke towards the end. When it broke, his heart broke. Innocent people died right in front of her and he wasn't there to protect her.

"Gods." He sighed out loud as he removed his hand from his face and continued to walk down the hall. If it wasn't a dragon that killed innocent people right in front of Hope, then what could it of been? Several times he tried to come up with his own explanation like Skjor poorly tried to do earlier, but he couldn't. He couldn't think of one, because why would Hope lie about something like this?

She wouldn't lie about something like this and he knew that, he just didn't want to accept it, because if he did than he would have to accept that dragons existed. If he were to accept that dragons existed than he would have to accept a change coming and he just couldn't. He couldn't take any more changes. But whether he wanted them to come or not, it wasn't up to him and deep down in his heart, he knew they were coming.


	44. Chapter 44

"Are you really going to go tell the Jarl that there's a dragon about?" Vilkas heard Skjor ask as he walked up the steps. When he came to the top of the stairs, he saw the circle members standing near Vignar's room. "I told her I would." Kodlak said with a nod.

"Maybe you'll be able to find out what's really going on when you get up there." Aela said with her arms crossing over her chest.

"You still don't believe her?" Farkas questioned with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I believe that **something** happened." She told him.

"What? You actually believe that a dragon destroyed Helgen?" Skjor jabbed.

"I do. I don't believe that she'd make something up like that." Farkas jabbed back.

"That's enough, all of you." Kodlak cut in, making them stop.

Vilkas watched them for a moment longer before turning and heading towards the doors. "Where are you going?" Skjor asked, noticing Vilkas's fast pace.

"I have something that needs doing." Was all Vilkas told him before opening the door.

"At this hour?" Skjor questioned with a frown.

"Yep, at this hour." Vilkas replied as he walked through the open door and closed it behind him.

Vilkas walked past the tables that had a few Companions sitting at them, Ria included. "Vilkas!" She quickly jumped out of her chair the moment she saw him. Vilkas stops and looks at her with a questioning look. "Is Hope really awake?" She asked with her hands joining together in front of her chest.

"She was, she's resting now." He told her. "Oh, good." Ria sighed in relief. With nothing else to say, Vilkas quickly walks around her and then walks down the small steps that lead towards the training yard. Ria watches him curiously for a moment before sitting back down next to Njada. "Didn't really say much about her did he?" Njada pointed out as she took a bite out of a loaf of a bread.

Ria didn't respond, she just looked down at her full plate and got lost in her own thoughts and worries. She was there when Hope panicked and said really strange things. _'It was a dragon!'_ Her frantic voice plays in her head. _'Dragon...'_ The word repeated in her mind. Could it of really been a dragon that did that to Hope? If so...then what does it mean?

As Vilkas walks past the weapons rack, he only grabs a single sword and ties it to the belt around his thick cotton pants. He didn't bother changing back into his armor or grabbing his great-sword, because he knew the road to Rorikstead was a fairly safe one. One that had a few wolves on it occasionally and that was something he only needed a simple sword for.

He makes his way around the building and then down the stairs. Once he's at the bottom he stops and looks at the setting sun in the distance. He knew it would be well dark by the time he reached Rorikstead, but going there meant a lot to Hope and he couldn't deny her. He wouldn't deny her. So, he looks back a head and continues on.

Kodlak watched Vilkas from the side of Jorrvaskr for a moment, watching him walk down the steps and then making his way over to the Marketplace. Once he was out of view, Kodlak made his own way down the stairs but turned in the opposite direction that Vilkas turned, and approached the many steps that led up to Dragonsreach.

Unlike the others, Kodlak felt that Hope was telling the truth. He believed her words and believed the things she said she went through. He was just unsure if the Jarl would believe him...

Before Hope had returned to Jorrvaskr, a great stream of black smoke filled the sky a great distance away from Whiterun. When it appeared, it drew many others attentions. The Jarl even sent soldiers in the direction it was coming from. So he must of known that something strange was going on, but to say that it was a dragon's doing that caused the smoke? The Jarl wouldn't think it strange, he would think it madness. But still, he had to try. He had to try because it was important to Hope and besides, if a dragon truly did destroy Helgen and it found its way to Whiterun and no one knew of its existence; it would be his doing if the city was destroyed and the lives in it consumed.

So whether the Jarl believes him at the moment or not, Kodlak knew he had to warn him for Hope and for the safety of others; because right then, he felt that there was no greater threat than the unknown.

Kodlak finally reaches the great set of wooden doors leading into Dragonsreach. He grabs their giant handles and opens them with ease. The doors fall shut behind him and as he walks in, he hears a great amount of arguing.

"What do you mean Helgen has been destroyed!?" Jarl Balgruuf's voice booms through the great palace, causing everyone before him to wince away.

"It..it is as I say, my lord." A cowardly guard steps forward. "When we arrived, we could smell the ashes in the air and the burning of flesh." He described.

Kodlak stops at the top of the stairs and notices that the men the Jarl had sent a few days ago have returned. They couldn't of arrived more than five minutes ago.

"The gate was blocked by fallen stone from the buildings, we had to climb up the walls to reach inside the city." Another guard explained. "And when we entered it, everything was...gone, crushed, and...killed."

Jarl Balgruuf shifts around in his seat uncomfortably at the images his guards were putting in his brain. "No one was alive to tell you what happened?" He asked.

"No my lord." The guard bowed his head. "Everyone we saw...was burned into the ground."

"Gods..." Balgruuf breathed.

"What do we do my lord?" Irileth quickly asks with a hint of panic showing in her eyes.

"I..I don't know." He replied as he sat forward in his thrown with his hand rubbing his forehead. "We don't know what happened."

"I can tell you what happened." Kodlak's voice echos through out the palace, making everyone in the room turn their attention towards him.

Irileth quickly sneers at the interruption and begins to charge at him, but Balgruuf stops her with a raise of his hand. She slightly turns to look at him, seeing him stare Kodlak down intensely.

"Well..I can at least tell you what happened to one of my own." He says as he slowly walks towards the Jarl's throne.

"You know something about Helgen, Harbinger?" Balgruuf asked as he slowly leaned back in his throne.

"I only know what I've been told by a fellow Companion, one who was in Helgen when it was destroyed." He told him and when he did, he could sense the tension rise in the air as the guards around him shifted around nervously.

"And where is this fellow Companion? Shouldn't he be telling me this himself?" Balgruuf questioned with his eyebrows furrowing.

" **She**." Kodlak corrected him. "And she is resting at this moment, she was gravely injured with horrific burns and broken ribs when she made her way back to Whiterun." He explained. "We're lucky we didn't lose her in fact..."

"Burns, you say?" Balgruuf questions as he turns his head towards one of the guards and when he did, they gave him a quick nod. "So then tell me." He turns back to Kodlak and leans forward in his throne. "Just what did she say, happened in Helgen?"

Kodlak swallows hard, readying himself for the story he was about to tell.

"Well, it all starts with our young Hope being wrongly captured by the Imperials." Everyone in the room stares him down and listens closely.

As he tells the story, he hears the guards around him whispering to each other. Then, the moment the word "dragon" leaves his mouth, the room falls silent. No one dared to move and no one dared to breath. Balgruuf stared at Kodlak with wide eyes, a mixture of fear and disbelief swimming in them. The guards quickly look to each other, obviously putting the pieces together.

"Madness!" The steward erupts, his voice echoing through out the palace. "Just madness I say!" He shouts louder with sweat forming on the top of his balding head. "You stand there before us, claiming that it was a dragon that destroyed Helgen and killed all of its people! Just what proof do you have!?" Fear showed in the back of his voice, fear that Kodlak was telling the truth.

"Well, there is my Companion." He told him as calmly as he could.

"Your-your Companion!?" The steward exclaimed.

"That's enough, Avenicci!" The Jarl shouted, making his steward quickly become quiet; although it looked like he had much more to say.

Balgruuf quickly turned to look at Irileth and at the same time, she looked at him. When their eyes met, she gave him a slow nod. Already knowing what he was wanting to do and disagreeing with it. But the Jarl ignored her caution and rose from his throne, approaching Kodlaks down the steps. "Take me to this Companion." He demanded. "I would hear the story from her own mouth."

"I'm afraid that's impossible." Kodlak told him with his eyes staying firm on the Jarl.

Balgruuf quickly furrowed his eyebrows down at him, questioning him on his refusal.

"She's resting at the moment." Kodlak said, already sensing the question coming up. "And I do not wish to disturb her with this any further at the moment."

"Exuse me?" The Jarl tittered. "You tell us that there is a dragon about and is possibly still a threat and you don't want to disturb the one person who saw this beast with her own eyes, the one person that could possibly help?!" He insinuated with a snarl, obviously still feeling the effects of the news about Helgen and what could of possibly destroyed it.

Kodlak stood firm in his place, his eyes meeting the Jarls as he continued to stay calm. "Come to Jorrvaskr in a couple of days." He told him smoothly. "I'm sure she will be up to talk about it then."

With nothing left to say, Kodlak turned on his heel and walked away. The Jarl and everyone else in the room watched him with their hidden fears coming to surface.

The moment Kodlak opened the door to Jorrvaskr, the circle members quickly approach him, eager to hear what happened. "Well, how'd it go?" Skjor asked. "About what you expect." Kodlak sighed as he walked through them and over to the tables.

"So he didn't believe you then?" Farkas asked with a bit of a frown. "He listened to me, but showed a bit of hesitation. He wanted to speak to Hope directly." He replied.

"What did you say?" Aela asked with her eyebrows pinched together. "I told him to come to Jorrvaskr in a couple of days, but by the way he reacted to the story, I wager he'll be here first thing tomorrow." Kodlak said with a sigh as he grabbed at a pitcher full of mead and an empty mug.

"I need a drink." He sighed again as he sat himself down with his mug already filling up with the fresh mead. The others sat down with him and continued to wonder just what was going to happen next.

Darkness fell quickly over Vilkas as he walked down the long road that led to Rorikstead. Luckily it was a clear night, so he had the moon and the stars to light his path. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the small sting the cold Skyrim air sent through his lungs. His wolf blood usually kept him from getting cold, so he enjoyed what he could feel from it, even if it was small. It was strange to think about because many would complain about the cold, but to him, it was actually one of the things he missed the most. He missed how the cold air sent chills down his spine and caused goose-bumps to rise on the surface of his skin. It was something very human and something he longed for.

Lights appearing in the distance had Vilkas snapping out of his deep thoughts. He stopped a few miles away and stared out at Rorikstead. Well, the town was there and there was no signs that anything like a dragon had been near it.

He wanted to turn and head back to Whiterun to be with Hope and to keep an eye on her. But he knew she wanted him to do more than just look at the town. She wanted him to check on her family, see them with his own eyes. So he continues down the road, heading right for Roristead.

When he entered the small village, he saw how empty the streets were, which wasn't surprising given the hour. He stopped for just a moment to look around, in case any one was walking around, but no one was in sight. _'I'll look for them tomorrow.'_ He decided as he started to head for the Inn.

Even though Hope never really told him much about her family or told him who they were, twins with a set of strong, stubborn eyes (much like hers) came to his mind, giving him a good idea who they were.

Vilkas sighed as he walked up the creaky wooden steps to the Inn before opening the door. The scent of fresh mead hits him like a strong wind, making his mouth quickly become dry. Yes...a drink was exactly what he needed.

"Don't lie Britte! I know you took it!" A loud but familiar child's voice makes Vilkas come to an immediate stop in the doorway. He quickly looks in the direction it came from and saw a father and his two twin daughters sitting at one of the tables eating dinner together.

Vilkas slowly takes a step forward, letting the door shut behind him as he examines them for a moment. "I didn't take it Sissel! And if anyone is a liar, it's you!" The other child shouted back.

"I didn't lie! I know what I saw!" Sissel shouted again.

"Just what in gods names are you two arguing about this time!?" Their father shouted.

"Sissel said she saw a giant bird flying over town the other day, but **I know** she's lieing." Britte said with her nose wrinkling.

"I didn't say it was a bird! I said that it had wings like one, just...much much bigger wings..." Sissel argued with a nervous tone showing in her voice.

 _'Gods.'_ Vilkas felt his heart stop for a moment before slamming against his chest hard. Did she see what Hope saw? Was Hope's fears correct that a dragon or...whatever happened to Helgen was going to happen to her home village? Did this mean that there really was- _'Gods, listen to you.'_

Vilkas slowly brought up a shaky hand to his forehead, he rubbed it slowly as he shut his eyes for a moment. _'She's just a child..children have big imaginations...'_ He told himself, but his heart still slammed against his chest as his stomach turned into sickening knots.

 _'But Liah is no child, am I trying to convince myself that it was just her imagination?'_ No, gods no. No imagination made those burns on her legs, no imagination put that fear in her eyes. So does that mean it's real? Does that mean dragons are real? Does it mean that Vilkas is finally coming to terms with reality and seeing the true dangers ahead? Or was he just plummeting into madness and letting his fears take over his common sense? Gods, he really needed a drink.

He quickly removes his hand from his face as he makes his way over to the bar. He forced every thought out of his brain except for the one about Hope's family, and he can see that they are fine and safe. If his guess was right at least and from the familiar emerald green eyes on one of the twin sisters, he felt confident that he was right. When he reached the bar, he looked over his shoulder and watched the two twin sisters continue to argue.

"What is it now?" The father said with an irritated sigh. "Britte took my sweet roll!" Sissel hollered. "I did not!" Britte argued. "Stop lying!"

"She's not lying." The father said, making both sisters quiet down and look at him. "I'm the one that took your sweet roll."

"What!?" Sissel exclaimed. "Hey!" She then shouted as she quickly took her fathers sweet roll as pay back and when she did, rolling laughter came from him.

Vilkas couldn't help but chuckle himself, he remembered that night, when Hope told him about her family and how scared she looked to write them a simple letter. She was worried about how they were and how they reacted when she left; and from where Vilkas was standing. They seemed fine. _'She'll be glad when I tell her how well they're doing..'_

"What can I do you for you son?" The Innkeeper asked, startling Vilkas a bit. Vilkas quickly turned his head back, eyeing the Innkeeper for a moment while he regained himself.

"I uh." He cleared his throat. "I need a room for the night." He told him.

"Alrighty then." The Innkeeper said with a smile. "Ten gold pieces."

Vilkas nodded and then dug into his coin purse, pulling out a bit more than ten gold. "I'm going to need some dinner also." He told him.

"Okay, I can do that." The Innkeeper replied as he counted the gold in his hand. "You're room is on the right, by the way." He told him.

Vilkas nodded before pulling a stool up to the bar and taking a seat. "Would you like something to drink as well?" The Innkeeper asked as he placed the gold in his coin purse. "Gods yes, please." Vilkas answered. The Innkeeper chuckled while he grabbed a mug and a pitcher full of mead. "Been that kind of day?" He asked. "That's putting it lightly." Vilkas mumbled as he watched mead being poured into his mug.

When the Innkeeper finished, he placed the mug down and left to get Vilkas a plate of food. Vilkas quickly picked up the mug and took a big drink of the cool liquid. "Careful there." The Innkeeper said as he had already returned with Vilkas's food. "You keep drinking like that, you'll be out before you finish that mug." He joked.

 _'Only if I'm lucky.'_ Was all Vilkas could think as he took in a second drink before picking up half a loaf of bread.

He bit into the fresh bread as his eyes wondered the Inn, they first stopped on a familiar looking young man that looked to be around his age who was sweeping behind the bar. Then they trailed back to the Innkeeper, who was still standing behind the bar in front of Vilkas...and staring at him.

Vilkas put the bread down and furrowed his eyebrows down at him in question. "Sorry." The Innkeeper quickly apologized with a half smile. "You just look familiar, have you been through Rorikstead before?" He asked.

"Sometimes, for work." Vilkas answered before taking another bite out of his bread.

"Oh right!" The Innkeeper snapped his fingers. "You're with the Companions! Right? I've seen you from time to time." He said with his smile growing, causing what little talking in the Inn to quiet down. It almost seemed like the Innkeeper wanted everyone to hear him...

"Didn't recognize you without that armor you people usually wear." The Innkeeper stated.

Vilkas eyed him for a moment before slightly moving his eyes to the young man behind the bar, who had stopped sweeping and was looking at Vilkas for a moment but then quickly looked away, continuing to sweep once Vilkas's eyes fell on him. "Uh." He cleared his throat before uncomfortably moving his eyes down towards his plate. "Yeah, I just have small business here. Didn't need my armor for it." He explained.

"I see." The Innkeeper nodded. He then slightly looked up past Vilkas for a moment before standing up from the bar and walking away. _'That was weird.'_ Was all he could think to himself as he started to pick up the salted meat on his plate.

A stool moving and then being placed right next to him stops him. Vilkas slowly puts the meat back down and then slightly moves his head to the side to see who it was. It was Hope's father, and he was looking right at him. _'Great.'_

"Companion, huh?" Lemkil-Hope's father-asked. "That's right." Vilkas sighed as he turned his attention back towards his plate, even though he wasn't eating. Lemkil sat there in silence for a moment, his hands gathered on the bar in front of him with his thumbs strumming on the top of it. Vilkas wasn't looking at him, but he could tell he was doing some deep thinking and pondering.

"Do you-" Lemkil stops to sigh and rub his forehead for a minute. _'Is he wanting to know if Liah is with us?'_ Vilkas wondered even though he already knew the answer to that question. He was her father after all, why wouldn't he want to know? Gods only know how worried he must of been when she took off.

As Lemkil continues to think again for a moment longer, Vilkas starts to think deeply himself. He wonders if he should just go a head and tell him that she is with them, but would she want him to do that? Would it be the right thing to do to keep it a secret only because Hope wanted him to? He didn't feel like that was the right thing to do, she still had a father, a family. Since he lost his father at a young age and grew up with out one...he felt that Hope would thank him later for what he was about to do.

"Yes." He said before Lemkil could ask the rest of his question. Lemkil looks up and looks at Vilkas with his eyebrows raised as Vilkas stares out at the wall in front of him. "She's with us." He told him.

A shaky sigh left Lemkil when Vilkas told him that. He slightly looked to him and watched him rub the top of his balding head with a small smile on his face. "I knew it." He whispered to himself with relief slipping into his voice.

Vilkas then watched him dig into his pocket and pull out three sealed letters. "Could you give these to her for me?" He asked with his smile remaining. "The couriers never take them because Liah never said where she was in her letters." He explained.

Vilkas slowly took them from him and began to examine them. One had Father written on the back of it while the other two had Sissel and Britte written on them. "The girls wanted to right their own letters, they've been wanting to tell Liah all of the things they've learned to do." He explained again with an amused smile taking over his relieved one.

Vilkas couldn't help but smile also as he dragged his fingers over the badly written names. "Writing obviously isn't one them." Lemkil coughed, making a chuckle escape from Vilkas. _'Yeah, she'll thank me for this later.'_

"You know..." Vilkas trailed off with his smile remaining. "She isn't going by Liah back at Jorrvaskr." He told him.

Lemkil quickly furrowed his eyebrows. "She's not? What's she going by?" He asked.

"Hope." Vilkas answered.

Lemkil scoffs. "Hope? Why Hope? What's wrong with Liah?" He questioned. "Liah's a beautiful name, her mother gave her that name." He grumbled.

"It is..." Vilkas agreed as he carefully placed the letters in the small pouch tied to his belt. "Beautiful that is.." He cleared his throat. Lemkil lifts a suspicious eyebrow up at Vilkas at the same time the young man behind the counter suddenly stopped sweeping.

Vilkas saw him slightly look at him from over his shoulder with his eyebrows furrowed before putting the broom down and walking away. "You close to my daughter?" Lemkil questioned. "I uh.." Vilkas clears his throat. "I think we're all close to her. She's been with us for a while now." He explained with his hand quickly grabbing at his mug.

"I see." Lemkil said with his eyebrow still suspiciously raised. _'Gods.'_ Vilkas sighed before taking a big drink out of his mug.

They both sat there in silence for a moment before Lemkil broke it. "Is she happy?"

Vilkas quickly looked at him, a bit shocked by the question. "Is she where she's meant to be?" He asks again with his eyes now staring down at the bar.

Vilkas stares at him for a moment before slowly looking back down at his plate full of food. _'Is she happy? Is she where she's meant to be?'_ The questions repeat in his mind and he can't help but think on them. There were times when she wasn't happy, one of those times being now with her injuries and what she went through. Another time like when she had to kill people for the first time pops in his head, showing him another memory where she was very unhappy.

The look in her eyes when she first killed flashes behind his eyes and just like before, it made his chest ache. Gods, was she happy? Is she where's she meant to be? How can he answer those questions? Especially after everything she just went through and her father having no idea about any of it...it was probably best if it stayed that way.

Vilkas sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Maybe if she never left her home, she wouldn't be hurt like she was. She wouldn't be as scarred as she was and he never would've hurt her like he did. The way Hope looked at him when she told him she knew...about him..again, made his chest ache.

 _'Gods...'_ He sighed again as memories flooded his mind. But then, unexpectedly a memory of her smile pushes all the others away. Then her laughter echoes through his mind, before a memory of her working hard with Aela appears. The ache in his chest slowly fades and turns into something warm. Something he always felt when she smiled up at him.

"She's had her good moments with us." Vilkas started to speak, making Lemkil look back at him. "But she's also had her hard ones."

"She's had to learn to do things she probably never imagined having to do, gods know she's done things she's never wanted to do. But she's endured and she's learned. She's accepted that sometimes the hardest things to do have to be done for the good of others. I can't look you in the eyes and tell you that she's completely happy with us, but I can tell you, she is where she's meant to be. She's strong, brave, and an honorable woman. One who has a warrior's blood flowing through her veins." The warm feeling he felt in his chest before increased as those words left his mouth. He didn't know where they were coming from, they just came and when he started, he didn't want to stop.

A deep sigh left Lemkil as he planted a firm hand on Vilkas's shoulder. "Thanks son, I needed to hear that." He said with his eyes falling shut, obviously letting go of a lot of tension and stress he had been holding onto since she left. He then slowly opens his eyes and looks back at Vilkas with his hand remaining on his shoulder. Vilkas turned his head and met Lemkil's eyes. "Watch out for her for me, will you?" He said with a small smile spreading over his lips. "She's my oldest daughter, one who deserves happiness and the life she's always dreamed of. So please, just make sure she's safe."

With out any hesitation, Vilkas plants a firm hand on Lemkils shoulder before giving him a nod. "I will." He promised, and he meant it.


	45. Chapter 45

When Vilkas left Rorikstead, he made sure that he left at a fairly early time. Despite the small hang over he had from drinking all night with Hope's father. After a couple mugs of mead, Hope's father Lemkil started to talk about their past. He told him about Hope's mother dying after giving birth to the twins and then talked about how Hope took over and took care of them after her mother's death.

Vilkas could see guilt fill in Lemkil's eyes as he told him the nights he spent at the Inn while Hope spent her nights taking care of her sisters and the house. In a shameful voice he said. "She became their mother and my care taker..."

It was strange imagining Hope taking care of a family, taking care of children like a mother would. Seeing her as she is now, it was hard to believe that she once wore an apron and cooked meals for her family as well as patrons at the Inn. Actually, picturing her in one those outfits that most bar maids wore made him want to see her wear one. It would definitely be a nice change from armor and worn clothing...

Whiterun had come into view a couple miles back and now he was starting to near the stables. Vilkas placed his hand over the pouch that contained the letters Hope's father gave him. He wondered how she was going to react when he gives them to her and tells her that he told her family where she was. He honestly didn't see her getting too upset about it, in fact he felt confident that she was going to be happy that he did it once she read the letters.

When Vilkas enters the city, he's surprised to see the roads full of people. They were all either in a big group whispering or it was just two close to a wall in speaking in hushed voices. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows at the strange crowds as he walked by them. "I heard Helgen got destroyed." He heard one citizen say.

Vilkas quickly stops and turns his head towards a man who was talking with two other women. "What?! Helgen!?" One of the women exclaimed. "So that large smoke everyone saw the other day, that was the city Helgen?" The other woman asked with her hand partially covering a shocked mouth that hung agape.

"But how could an entire city be destroyed? Bandits don't work fast enough for no one to be able to escape and get help." The other woman pointed out. "That's because it wasn't bandits..." The man said with his arms crossed.

The two women look to each other and then back at the man eagerly waiting for more. "You see, there's a survivor from Helgen here in Whiterun and she says it was a dragon that destroyed Helgen."

"A dragon?" One of the woman scoffed as her hands quickly found her hips. "Now you're either stupid or drunk!" She accused.

"I'm neither!" The man protested. "I have a friend in the guard who heard the whole story! He was even one of the soldiers that the Jarl sent to investigate and he said what happened to the city could only be a dragon's doing!"

"Well how would he know!" The woman protested. "Has he ever seen a dragon before?" She jabbed.

"But just think about it.." The other woman spoke up, making them both look at her. "What else could destroy an entire city...that fast?" She said with a hint of fear in her voice and as she said it, fear started to pool in the other woman's eyes.

 _'Gods.'_ Vilkas sighed as he took off down the street. He passed more groups of people on the small road leading to the marketplace and all they talked about was Helgen and that it was...

 _'Gods.'_ Vilkas sighed again as he could hear panic behind the citizen's of Whitrun's voices. Kodlak must of kept his promise to Hope and went to the Jarl with her story and it would appear some of the guards listening had loose lips. Because now all Vilkas could hear while he made his way to Jorrvaskr, was talks about dragons and the destruction of Helgen.

He sensed heavy fear in the air every time "dragon" left someone's mouth and he saw the panic in their eyes. He even heard one man say that he was going to pack up his family and leave because the dragon seemed to have a taste for big cities. But that wouldn't keep his family safe, gods no. If there really were dragons about, staying behind stone walls would be their best bet.

Vilkas quickly made his way through the marketplace and then rushed up the small set of stone stairs leading away from it. Then when he made it to the top of the stairs. "Gods!" He exclaimed as he came to a fast halt.

His eyes widened and his jaw fell open as he stared out at the large crowd blocking the stairs to Jorrvaskr. All yelling and shouting, demanding answers from the Companions. And at the moment, those Companions were Aela and Skjor, they seemed to be able to keep them from rushing into Jorrvaskr but they couldn't keep them off the stairs.

"We demand answers!" A woman shouted with fear making her voice shake. "We heard there's a survivor from Helgen inside of your hall!" A man shouted. "Is it true she said it was a dragon that destroyed Helgen!?" He asked with wide fearful eyes. "Why won't you tell us anything!?" A woman screamed before Aela or Skjor could speak.

"We demand to see this survivor for ourselves!" A man shouted, causing a loud. "Yeah!" to erupt from everyone in the large crowd. "We demand to hear this story from her own mouth, we demand for her to be put on trial in front of everyone!" The man shouted again, causing another "Yeah!" to erupt from the crowd.

Aela's eyes widened while Skjor broke out into a mean snarl. "Back off!" He shouted as he quickly drew his sword, making everyone in the crowd gasp and then accuse some more. "Non of you are taking a step inside of Jorrvaskr and if you try, I'll cut your damn foot off!" He shouted again.

"I had family in Helgen!" A young girl, who looked to be barely eighteen cried. Skjor and Aela both look to her as does the rest of the people in the crowd. "I was only away to trade here in Whiterun, when it was destroyed." She cried again as she stepped through the crowd and up the steps.

"So please..." She stops only a few steps away from Skjor. "I need to know..." She slowly clasped her hands together in front of her chest as she looked up at Skjor and Aela with tear filled eyes.

Skjor's eyes showed sympathy towards the girl as he looked at her for a moment, he then turned his head to Aela who shook her head in response. Though it pained her to do so, she knew that giving away any information with out proof other than Hope's word, would only make the situation worse.

"Sorry, but like I said." Skjor slowly looks back to the young woman. "No one enters Jorrvaskr."

The young woman's lip trembled before a large man behind her grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back. "So you won't even give out the smallest information!?" He yelled, drowning out the screech that left the girl when she feel down the stairs. Luckily a man caught her before she could really get hurt and lead her to safety.

"Alright, I've had enough of this." Vilkas growled to himself as he began to march towards the crowd with his hand grabbing the hilt of his sword.

Vilkas was just about to yank back the first person he reached, but then. "Alright enough!" A loud booming voice is heard over the yelling and shouting, making the commotion quickly quiet down. Everyone including the three Companions turn their heads in the direction it came from.

Vilkas's eyes widened as he heard the crowd in front of him gasp when they saw that it was Jarl Balgruuf.

"All of you, back to your business!" He shouted again, but no body budged. They all exchanged quick glances with each other before a man stepped towards the Jarl. "But my Jarl..." He trailed off to bow his head out of respect for their cities ruler. "We...we've heard that it was a dragon that destroyed Helgen..." He hesitantly said.

"I don't care what you heard." The Jarl didn't yell this time, but his voice was still loud and still caused the man to wince and cower away. "By being out here like you are, you are creating a panic through my city and by creating this panic through my city, you are harming the innocent in these walls with you actions. So anyone that takes another step towards the Companions or even breaths the word dragon, will find themselves exiled from Whiterun!"

Everyone in the crowd gasps as they all exchange looks once more. "Now, off with you!" On his command, everyone fled from Jorrvaskr, quickly wanting to be out of the sights of their Jarl.

"Irileth..." Balgruuf slightly turned his head towards her. "Find me the guards who were stupid enough to open their mouths." He told her.

"Yes my Jarl." She nodded and then quickly took off with a couple of guards behind her.

An irritated sigh leaves Balgruuf as he walks past Vilkas and then up the stairs towards Aela and Skjor. They watch him with their eyebrows furrowed and their arms crossed. "I do hope you will let me pass, Companions." He said. "I've waited like your Harbinger told me to."

"I'm pretty sure he said come in a **few** days." Skjor sneered, not caring that he was speaking to the Jarl.

"You're lucky I've waited one day, because to me one day was too long." Balgruuf said as calmly as he could. "Now, I ask that you let me pass and allow me to speak to this survivor."

Skjor furrowed his eyebrows down at Balgruuf before looking to Aela. She stared down at the Jarl for a moment longer before slowly stepping out of the way, allowing him to pass. "I thank you." Balgruuf said as he walked by them both and made his way to Jorrvaskr.

Aela and Skjor both watch him and his guard for a moment before turning and looking at Vilkas. All three of them hold a gaze, each talking through silenced thoughts before all three make their own way back to Jorrvaskr.

When the Jarl entered Jorrvaskr, everyone inside became silent and watched him with wide, confused eyes. "Balgruuf." Kodlak greeted him as he entered the building. "Kodlak." Balgruuf greeted back. "I assume you're here to speak to her?" Kodlak asked. "That's right." Balgruuf replied. "This way." Kodlak told him as he began to walk towards the stairs.

Aela, Skjor, and Vilkas follow them down the stairs and then into the hallway. Vilkas kept his eyes on the back of the Jarl as they walked, not sure he agreed with Aela and Skjor's decision to let him pass, it had only been a day since Hope got back for gods sakes, one would think to just let her rest...

They all approach the door to Aela's room and then stop. Balgruuf grabs the handle, but turns to look at the others over his shoulder before entering. "I would ask you all to stay out here." He said. Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows down but before he could even think about objecting, Kodlak speaks. "Of course." He nodded.

Balgruuf nodded back and then entered the room. When the door shut behind him, his guard quickly stepped in front of it so that no one could enter until he was done. _'Great.'_ Vilkas sighed as he quickly walked off from the others. He walked to a small table in the hallway and took a seat to wait for when he could see Hope again.

Hope was partially asleep when she heard the door open and then close. She jumped a bit with her eyes flying open. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you." Balgruuf said with an apologetic smile. Hope stared at him for a moment before slowly sitting up and furrowing her eyebrows down at him. She didn't know who he was.

The Jarl saw the look in her eyes, telling him that he was unfamiliar to her. "I am the Jarl of Whiterun." He told her with a small smile.

 _'Gods!'_ Hope instantly panicked by quickly picking up the top of her blanket and covering her messy cloths with it. "No need to worry about what you look like lass." Balgruuf chuckled. "From what I hear, you've been through enough already." He said, with his smile slowly fading as a more serious look appears in his eyes.

Hope nervously stared at him for a moment before quickly looking down at the blanket covering her legs. "I..I take it you want to hear the story?" She asked, showing a bit of dread in her voice from the thought of re-living it once more. "Good, you catch on fast." Balgruuf said as he quickly grabbed a chair and placed it by her bed.

After taking a seat, he rests his arms on his knees and then gives her a nod to start. So she starts.

Hope works through the story slowly, once more re-living the nightmare. She wasn't looking at the Jarl, but she could feel him become tense when she mentioned the dragon. After she gave him disturbing detail about the attack on Helgen, she explained how she escaped and why she proceeded to Whiterun in the critical condition she was in.

"What did this dragon look like?" Balgruuf asked all of a sudden. Hope looks up at him and stares at him for a moment before answering. "It..it was big. Bigger than a tavern and taller than a stone tower..." Her voice shook a bit when the image of the dragon crushing a tower beneath its giant claws comes to her mind. "It was black, very black...and it had red eyes." She explained with her eyes trailing back down to her lap.

"Is there anything else about it you can tell me?" He asked with his body still leaning forward in his chair.

Hope slowly furrowed her eyebrows down as she continued to stare down at her lap and think to herself. She thinks back to when her and Hadvar were pressed against a wall with the dragon right above them. She remembers looking up at its head and watching fire explode from its mouth. She also remembers hearing a word, one that should of been loud but it was quiet. It was hidden within the fire. "I..." She trailed off, remembering how it felt when the word hit her ears, when it hit her soul.

"I think...I heard it...speak?" It was more of a question than an answer. Balgruuf questions her with his eyebrows furrowing and his head tilting. "At one time, I was just below it and watched it shoot fire from its mouth and I heard..something like..a word form when it did so..." She explained with her own eyebrows furrowing.

They both sit in a heavy silence as Balgruuf stared at Hope, examining her with his own thoughts running through his head. Hope can feel his eyes digging into her, she slightly looks at him and when she does, he doesn't turn away. He just continues to stare at her, obviously lost in thought.

Then out of no where, he clears his throat and gets up from his chair. Hope watched him with her eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "I thank you for telling me what happened." He said, taking Hope by surprise. It almost sounded like he believed her. "I also thank you for doing what you could to reach Whiterun to warn me and my people of the dangers roaming Skyrim right now. You've done me and my city a service, one I won't soon forget." He said with a nod from his head before turning and walking to the door.

Hope watched him open the door, but then stop to slightly turn his head and look at her one last time over his shoulder. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a small moment before he turned back and left the room with the door closing behind him. _'That was...strange...'_ Was all she could think as she thought about the look in his eyes when he turned to look at her one last time.

Footsteps coming down the hall had Vilkas quickly standing from his chair. He watched the Jarl walk down the hall with his guard right behind him and when he passed him, their eyes met for only a moment before Balgruuf looked away and continued to walk towards the stairs.

Kodlak was sitting at a table close to it and when he saw the Jarl, he stood from his chair. "Hear everything you needed to?" He asked with his arms crossing. Balgruuf stopped in front him and stared at him for a moment before replying with a nod. "I did."

Balgruuf and Kodlak both stare at each other for a short moment before he broke the silence. "Expect a guard visiting your hall soon, Harbinger." He said, making Kodlak lift an eyebrow. "I may have to call upon the Companions for aid." Was all he said before slightly turning his head in the direction of Aela's room and then turning back towards the stairs to leave. Kodlak watched him with his eyebrows furrowed, wondering what it is he may call upon them to do.

Vilkas watched with his own eyebrows furrowed, wondering the same before quickly turning and heading for Aela's room to finally see Hope. He stopped at the door and gave it a light knock.

"Come in." He heard Hope softly say. She sounded mentally wore out and probably wasn't in the mood for anymore visitors, but Vilkas wanted to see her. He wanted to tell her everything that happened yesterday.

When he opened the door and stepped through, he was pleased to see Hope's eyes light up when she saw him. "Hope I'm not bothering you. I can only imagine how many questions the Jarl had." He said as he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"It..wasn't too bad. I just..don't like re-telling that story, it's still too fresh in my mind..." She explained with the light slightly fading from her eyes.

"No need to explain." Vilkas told her as he walked over to the chair next to the bed. "I understand." He said as he took a seat.

Hope slowly nodded as she watched him with her shoulders relaxing against the head of the bed. "So...did you just get back from Rorikstead?" She hesitantly asked, afraid that her fears might have happened.

"I did." Vilkas said with a nod. "And the village is fine, as well as your family." He told her with a small smile.

A deep, relieved sigh leaves Hope as her eyes slowly fall shut. "Thank the gods..." She whispers as she slowly brought her hand up to her chest. When her fingers fell only on the cloth of her shirt, her heart dropped in her chest. Making her remember that she no longer had the last piece of her mother with her.

Vilkas watched her hand slowly drop to her lap as her bottom lip slightly trembled. His eyes went to where her hand just did and that's when he noticed that the necklace she always wore, was gone. Did she lose it? In Helgen perhaps?

She looked grieved by its loss, but he knew how to cheer her back up. "I know you probably didn't want me doing this but..." He said as he leaned forward and dug into his side pouch. Hope looked at him and watched him with curious eyes. "I told your father that you were here with us." He explained, making Hope quickly furrow her eyebrows at him.

"And." He quickly spoke before she could. "He wanted me to give you these." He told her as he held the three letters out to her.

Hope's eyebrows raised curiously as she slowly took the sealed letters from him. She slowly looked at the writing on the front of the first letter and then smiled when she looked at the writing on the other two, seeing her sisters messy handwriting for the first time in what felt like a long time. "I see their writing hasn't gotten much better..." She chuckled as she traced their names with her index finger. A warm smile slowly spreads across her lips as fond memories come back to her.

Gods, how long has it been since she was able to just think about the simpler times with her family? How long has it been since she was able to just think about her family? With everything that's happened, she was ashamed to admit that they fell to the back of her mind. The realization of that made her heart break, but then the realization of her family now knowing where she was, made her feel a bit better, maybe it was better this way. Because even though they weren't truly with her, it still allowed them to be apart of her life.

"Thank you..." She said quietly as she ran her index finger over her sisters names once more. Vilkas couldn't help but show a smile, he knew in the end she would be thankful for what he did. And he knew in the end, it make everything...a bit better.

"You should go see them sometime." He said, making her look at him. "Just because you're a Companion, doesn't mean you can't see your family. You only get one of those." He said with a faint smile. "You're wrong." Hope said, making him knit his eyebrows together in question. "If you choose the right people in your life, you get to have more than one." She said with a warm smile that caused a strange mixture of feelings to stir inside of Vilkas.

They both sat there in silence for a long moment and it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It wasn't a heavy silence either. It was...a good silence. One where they just sat there, staring into each others eyes as warmth spread through out them both. Just what could that mean? There's that damn question again, but at least it was about the familiar situation between them and not about what could possibly be roaming Skyrim's skies at that very moment.

Vilkas wanted nothing more than to get up, take Hope in his arms while also taking her breath away with a kiss she would never forget. But due to her injuries and the letters she now had to read. He figured it wasn't the best time for that. Besides, there will always be time for that later...right?

"Well." Vilkas broke the silence as he cleared his throat. "I'll uh, let you read those letters and get some more rest." He said as he got up from the chair. Hope watched him for a moment before nodding and then looking down at the three letters in her hand.

"I'll check on you later." Vilkas said with out thinking, he really meant to think that and not say it out loud. Hope quickly looked up at him. "Okay." She said a bit too eagerly than she meant to. Vilkas couldn't help but show half a smile as he lifted an eyebrow up at her, he didn't know if he was hearing things or not, but it almost sounded like she wanted him to come back later...

Hope's cheeks quickly flared as she looked back down at the letters, trying her best to now avoid eye contact. Again, Vilkas couldn't help but smile as he turned and left her room, now having to count the time before he could see her again.


	46. Chapter 46

A few days passed since Hope made it back to Jorrvaskr and she was finally able to walk around and maybe even train a bit, if they'd let her. Gods, she hoped they let her because being stuck in bed for so long had her going crazy.

After changing into a clean pair of cloths, Hope walks down the hallway from Aela's room and then heads up the stairs for breakfast. When she reaches the top step, she can't stop herself smiling from seeing the familiar sight of the Companions, her friends, sitting at the table together eating. It was a sight she missed and thought she wouldn't get to see again when her head laid on the headsman stone...

A shiver ran down her spine when she remembered the sensation of the cold iron and fresh blood on her neck. She quickly shook her head, ridding the memory from her mind. She noticed movement at one side of the table and saw that it as Ria waving her over with a glad smile on her face. Hope returned the smile and made her way over to her.

Hope pulled a chair out and sat down between her and Torvrar. When she did, the others around her aside from Ria, went silent. Hope looked at them with her eyebrows pinched together, noticing how non of them wanted to make eye contact with her. _'What's with them?'_

"How are you feeling?" Ria asked, making Hope look back at her. "Better." She said with a small smile. "Your injuries are healing okay?" Ria asked again. "Seems to be." Hope said with a small nod.

Hope watched Ria give her a small smile before slowly looking away from her with some of her nerves showing. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at her before she looked back at the others. When she did, they all quickly looked away. It would seem that they had looked at her when she looked away. _'What in the world?'_

She eyed Torvrar, she eyed Athis, and when she turned her gaze to Njada. She saw that unlike the others, she was staring at Hope and she looked like she had something she wanted to say. Hope slowly furrowed her eyebrows down at her as the two sat there staring at each other for a good minute before Njada's face muscles tensed.

"Is it true?" She hesitantly asked. "What?" Hope unthinkingly snapped, making Njada's eyes widen and then narrow towards Hope. "I think you know what." Njada said through clenched teeth. "Then say it." Hope snapped again and Njada took it as a challenge.

"Hey, you know what guys, let's not do this." Torvrar cut in, raising both of his hands in the air like he was trying to create an invisible wall between Hope and Njada. "No, let's do this." Hope argued with her eyes now on Torvar. "Don't act like you haven't been talking about me behind my back!" She shouted.

"You're right, we have been talking." Njada spoke up, making Hope quickly glare at her. "Njada, don't." Athis warned, but she didn't listen. "We've been talking and all agreed that you've completely lost your mind!" She shouted before standing up from her chair and slamming her fists down on the table.

Hope sneers at her so much that the corner of her mouth some-what lifts into a snarl, showing a bit of teeth. "Oh wait, no, forgive me." Njada spoke sarcastically. "It was a dragon that took your sanity, nothing is your fault, nothing is ever **your** fault." She darkly joked, causing a sharp bolt to shoot right through Hope's chest.

Hope's heart suddenly stops as the blood in her very veins seem to come to a slow halt. Everything just stops until suddenly everything's moving again, her heart starts to slam against her chest, fire burns her very veins as her blood rushes through her body. She can feel heat rise from her cheeks to the very tips of her ears where a loud ringing suddenly takes place, drowning out everything around her.

"How dare you..." She whispers with her bottom lip giving off a small tremble. Njada furrows her eyebrows down at her as the others slowly look at Hope and watch her rise from her chair. Then, in a split second she explodes. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screams and her voice carries to the lower parts as well as the outside of Jorrvaskr, making anyone in those area's jump and quickly look for the source.

"YOU SIT THERE, MAKING JOKES AND YET YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED!" She talks so fast, little sprays of spit escape through teeth. "I WATCHED A MAN GET BURNED RIGHT INTO A STONE ROAD!" Now she's charging right for Njada with the heat in her face only rising and the pressure of her steps increasing, causing the wood floor beneath her to creak and even crack.

As memories of chaos and death flood her mind, a force unlike any other appears in the air, making the others feel like they were being weighted down in their very seats. "Hope, stop!" Ria yelled as she struggled to get out of her chair.

Njada stands frozen, eyes wide as she watches Hope charge right for her with a deadly look in her eyes. "Soldiers were crushed by fallen stone right in front of me. I watched blood spill on the ground before my very feet." Her voice was quieter now and somehow, that just seemed to make her even scarier. "You call me insane, tell me I lost my sanity yet you have no idea the destruction I've witnessed..."

Now she's in front of Njada, and her fist has a tight hold on the collar of her shirt as she pulls Njada close to her. "I pulled a crying boy away from his father while a dragon burned him into the ground, and you're making damn jokes." Her lip trembles again as tears begin to weld in her eyes, the fresh memory of the boy's cry still being too much for her.

"That's enough." A calm but loud voice appears from behind, making everyone freeze in place, even Hope. The strange pressure in the air slowly fade, allowing everyone to be able to relax against their chairs and breath properly.

Hope didn't need to look to know that it was Kodlak who cut in. He, Aela, and Skjor had just charged in and immediately felt what the others felt, maybe even more due to the wolf blood running through their veins. Farkas and Vilkas both had rushed up from down stairs after hearing Hope's voice echo through Jorrvaskr. Vilkas tightened his jaw as he watched Hope slowly release Njada's shirt. _'Just what in gods name was that?'_

His heart was still beating hard from the sudden pressure and force in the air they had just felt. He had just left Aela's room to check on Hope and when he saw that she wasn't there, he headed for the stairs to see if she decided to eat with the others. On the way there, Farkas joined him and that's when they heard her yell and that's when they felt it. It hit them like a wall and nearly had them hitting the floor.

He watched her nostrils flare as she took in deep breaths before quickly walking around Njada and then leaving Jorrvaskr through the set of wooden doors that sat on the opposite side of the room from the others. The door slammed shut behind her, making everyone in the room wince, except Kodlak of course. Who only stood there, calmly staring at the shut door.

 _'Gods...'_ The moment Hope left the building, the strange pressure and force completely disappeared. Torvrar and Athis both release a deep breath of air while Ria only looks down at the table with a mixture of worry and fear in her eyes. Vilkas looks to Njada and she stays standing in her place with her eyes glued to the floor, he watched her jaw tighten and then release and then tighten again. She was trying to not show her emotions but it was obvious that she was afraid, Vilkas could sense it, even from where he was standing.

 _'Gods...'_ Was all he could think as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Everyone stayed put, not sure of what to do in that moment. Vilkas slowly looked back to Kodlak and watched him stand in his place for a moment longer, with thoughts flooding his mind. Then he watches him walk towards the doors that Hope stormed out of, obviously wanting to find her and talk to her. Vilkas thought about joining him, but then decided that it was best for Kodlak to go alone. He always was better at talking with the others...especially if there was a problem...

When Kodlak walks outside, he finds Hope sitting on the steps leading away from Jorrvaskr. Her knees were pressed together and her elbows were against them with her chin resting in the palm of her hands. She didn't look angry anymore, she looked confused.

"Mind telling me what all that was about lass?" Kodlak asked as he walked over to her and took a seat on the step next to her. Hope only looked away from him instead of answering his question. Kodlak stared at her for a moment before looking up at the sky with a small sigh escaping past his lips.

"Everything's a bit mess now, isn't it?" He said with a small smile on his face. Hope turned her head and looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"When we think we have everything figured out and under control, is when the gods often show themselves."

"Tch." Hope quickly looked away from him again the moment he spoke of the gods. _'The gods, what good are gods who only sit back and watch innocent people die.'_ The words ring in her mind and make her tongue tingle. Making her have the urge to say such hateful things to Kodlak, but she doesn't, she just stays quiet and keeps her thoughts to herself...

Kodlak slowly brought his eyes back to Hope, examining the way the muscles in her face twitched and how she chewed on her bottom lip. Clearly having thoughts of her own about the subject.

"You shouldn't curse the gods, girl." Kodlak said, making Hope tense. Did he just read her mind? Was that a werewolf thing? No, Hope knew her feelings on the matter must of been all over her face. Lately, she's been having a hard time controlling her emotions...

"If you do, you'll find times when you need them the most and they won't show." He told her, making her quickly snap her head towards him. "Really?" She jabbed. "If you're telling me that they'll show when you need them, then I call on your bullshit." She cursed, taking Kodlak by surprise.

"I watched a lot of people die, I watched a whole city burn to the ground by a...dragon and I saw no hand of the gods intervene that day and I'm sure many people who believed in them, were asking for help while they were being killed."

Kodlak stared at Hope for a moment, reading the emotions and thoughts pouring into her eyes before speaking once again. "We don't always know the will of the gods girl, maybe...such chaos was meant to happen to allow someone to rise and put an end to that chaos for the good of Tamriel."

Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at Kodlak and the strange words he spoke. "No hero comes from simple living, our stories often tell us of hero's that rise from ashes, hero's that witness the unforgettable and hero's that lose everything, before rising to defend others."

"You curse the gods and say that they only stood by and watched as their children burned in front of them, well I say that amidst the chaos, the gods will reach a hand out and choose a hero to save the rest that live. Letting the deaths that came before, have meaning." His words were deep and the look in his eyes was deeper, sending a strange feeling through her. One that was unfamiliar and one that she found herself not liking.

"Well..." Hope sighed, slowly turning away from Kodlak. "If there is a hero to be, I just hope the gods choose soon before more people die..."

"They may already have." Kodlak said, making Hope look at him again.

They both sit there in silence for a moment before approaching, steel-boots have them turning their heads forward. Both of their eyebrows lift as they watch a soldier walk half-way up the stairs and then stop just a few steps away from them.

"I've been sent here retrieve a Hope." The soldier said, making Kodlak and Hope both look at each other.

Hope then turns back to the soldier while slowly getting up to her feet. "Um, I'm Hope." She told him.

"Come with me." Was all the soldier said before turning and walking away. Hope quickly looked down at Kodlak, who looked at her the same time she did. He stared at her for a moment before giving her a small nod. So with a heavy sigh, Hope follows the soldier, not having any clue where he was taking her.

 _'And so once again, fate and destiny are longer in our hands but only in the hands of the gods.'_ Kodlak stood as he watched the soldier turn towards the great stone stairs that led to Dragonsreach, taking Hope to speak to the Jarl once again.

When Kodlak re-entered Jorrvaskr, he was immediately approached by Vilkas just like he thought he would be. "She's gone to Dragonsreach." He said before Vilkas could ask. Vilkas quickly furrowed his eyebrows. "What for?" He asked while deciding not to care that Kodlak already knew what he was going to ask.

"I don't know, a soldier came and told her to go with him." He told him as he walked by him to reach the table where the others still sat in their places. He stopped right next to Ria and stared at them all, making them quickly become tense and refuse to meet eye contact with him.

"I don't what happened earlier, but I have a pretty good idea." He said with his eyes falling on Njada. "Anyone that mentions anything about dragons or tries to start trouble with Hope, will face consequences. We already have enough trouble with the citizens of Whiterun with this, so the last thing we need is trouble inside of our very halls." He spoke with a stern voice almost like a scolding father would. "Understood?" They all quickly nod. "Good." Was all he said before walking away from the table and towards the stairs to head to his room, he had some thinking he needed to do.

Hope followed the soldier up the stairs in silence, dreading that she had to see the Jarl again. What more does he want? What more can she do? She's already told him what happened, so why does he want to see her again?

She was going to find out very soon because now they were at the doors. The soldier opened the large set of doors and stood aside for Hope to enter, obviously not going any farther. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she walked inside and then jumped when the doors quickly shut behind her.

She looked back at the doors for a moment before looking a head, hearing a combination of talking and arguing. _'Here we go.'_ She sighed as she began to walk.

"How can you be so sure?" She heard the Jarl's loud voice first before hearing an unfamiliar one. "I can't be sure my lord, I only have my hunch. But if you want to be sure, than I suggest you lend an ear to Farengar's plan." It was a woman and it seemed she could care less that she was speaking to the Jarl of Whiterun.

Hope stopped at the top of the steps and watched a man with a hooded robe step forward past the mysterious woman, who had her face covered.

"My lord." Farengar spoke with his head slighting bowing. "I know this may sound far-fetched, but we've heard of a special stone tablet hidden in a ruin that may just help us solve our problems."

"You're right, it does sound far-fetched." Avenicci spoke up, making Farengar quickly glare at him. "My lord." Avenicci quickly turns towards the Jarl. "Are we really going to believe this mad tale of dragons? Is it really worth wasting valuable resources on?"

Balgruuf quickly held a hand up in the air, silencing his steward and making him turn away from him. He then slowly lowers his hand as he looks between the woman and Farengar. "Convince me that this isn't a waste of resources." He said, making both the woman and Farengar quickly exchange glances.

"The story you've heard from the survivor from Helgen isn't the only who's claimed to see a dragon." The woman said, catching the Jarl's interest as well as Hope's.

"Travelers and traders have been speaking of loud thunder like roars being heard from the skies when no clouds have been present, others have spoken about suddenly being draped by a giant, dark shadow as well as being hit by a sudden gush of wind." She explained, making the Jarl stir in his seat.

"Those..those claims.." Avenicci spoke. "They could be nothing!"

"Then give me something else that could be the cause of those claims that rule out the one's we've been hearing!" The woman challenged, making Avenicci quickly shut his mouth as sweat started to bead on the top of his bald head.

Suddenly the court falls silent and that's when Hope notices the Jarl looking right at her. She swallowed hard before approaching. When she got near, the mysterious woman and Farengar both turn to look at her and then step to the side to give her some space.

"Good, you're here." Balgruuf said while leaning forward in his throne. "You look well, how are you wounds?" He asked.

"Fine." She answered.

"Are they causing you any more pain?" He asked again.

"It's hard to walk sometimes, but other than that I'm fine." She told him.

"Good." Was all he said with a confident nod, almost like he had just decided on something.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she looked to the others. The mysterious woman was looking away and being sure to keep her face out of view while Farengar was examining Hope with a hand rubbing his chin.

"Thank you." Balgruuf turns his attention back towards the woman, making her look up at him. "I'll send for you when we have more to go on." He told her with a small smile. The woman nodded and then turned to walk away. But not before giving Hope a quick once over as she walked by.

Hope watched her walk away for a moment before turning back to the Jarl. "You're probably wondering why I called you here." He said and Hope gave him a nod as a response.

Balgruuf stands from his throne and then walks down the steps. "Let us speak somewhere more privately." He said with his hand motioning towards a separate room that was on the right of the large hall. Hope nodded and then followed the Jarl as well as Farengar to the room he directed her to.

She examined the room when they entered and saw it having pretty looking crystals she's never seen before aligned on a desk, as well as many books stacked on top of each other.

"Go a head Farengar, explain to her what you've explained to me." The Jarl said, making Farengar quickly go behind his desk and dig into the pile of books.

"Okay, just one minute." He told them as he quickly flipped through a few books. Balgruuf and Hope both watched him with their eyebrows lifted as he set one book aside and then started to flip through a few more books.

"Aha!" He exclaimed. "Here we are." He said with an excited smile as he sets another book to the side.

He opens both books to a certain page and looks back and forth between them with his fingers running across the pages. Hope watches with her eyebrows pinched together, wondering just what was he looking for.

"Okay, here it is." He said with both of his fingers stopping on both of the books. "Finally." The Jarl sighed. "Go on then."

"I was able to roughly translate a page in this book and from what I can tell; it says that in a ruin South from here, is a very old stone tablet." He explained.

Hope furrows her eyebrows down at him and looks between him and the Jarl. "What..what does this have to do with me?" She asked.

"Not a quick one are you?" Farengar said with his eyebrows furrowed at her.

Balgruuf gave him a quick glare before turning towards Hope. "If there really is a dragon like you said, this tablet can be the key to helping us." He explained.

"The key? Just what do you expect it to do?" Hope questioned with her eyebrows pinched together.

"We're not sure yet, but if it can help, we'd be fools not to pursue it." He explained.

"Okay.." She sighed with her eyes quickly falling to the ground. "But you still haven't told me what this has to do with me." She said with a bit of a shaky voice, already knowing she wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"We want you to go to that ruin and retrieve that stone." The Jarl told her.

Hope looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "Why? Why do you want me to do it?" She quickly asked.

"Because you're the one who saw this dragon, your the one who survived Helgen. I believe that if anyone should do this, it's you." He told her.

"That's not much of an explanation." She unthinkingly snapped.

"You're a Companion, are you not?" Balgruuf questioned, making Hope furrow her eyebrows down at him again. "Just think of this as a job that I'm hiring you for."

Hope quickly scoffed, noticing how he still hasn't given her an explanation. So slowly looks back down to the floor before hesitantly asking. "What if I don't want to do it?"

"I can easily find someone else to do this for me, but why wouldn't you want to do it? You went so far out of your way to warn me about the dragon even though you knew it could very well kill you. So tell me Companion, why would you refuse to help the people of Whiterun, no, the people of Skyrim after you've already gone so far for them?"

Gods he had her there because she had no idea what to say. She wanted to argue about it, she wanted to tell him no, she wanted to go back to Jorrvaskr and just forget about the whole thing. But she didn't, because she couldn't. He told her that he believed that she was the only person for this job, and something inside her said he was right. Something inside her told her to go, something told her to find answers, and something told her that she would...

 _'Gods..'_ Her chest tightened and her stomach twisted in sickening knots as well as a pressure appearing in the temples of her head. It was fear and uncertainty, two things she really didn't like and has been feeling for too long now. But she can't deny him, she can't even though she wanted to.

"When are you wanting it?"


	47. Chapter 47

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for the late update and for such a short chapter! It's been a pretty hard week but everything is starting to fall back into schedule so hopefully I can bring you guys a much better chapter next week. ^.^ _Hope_ you like it.  
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 _"We need it as soon as possible, if this tablet really can give us an edge against the dangers you spoke of, then we have no time to lose."_ Is what the Jarl had told Hope before she left Dragonsreach.

Now she's back at Jorrvaskr in the sleeping quarters gathering her things with Vilkas barking in her ear. "No, you can't go." He said for the hundredth time and Hope was still not listening. "I'm going, Vilkas." She told him as she closed her bag. "And you can't stop me." She turned around to leave, but found Vilkas blocking her way with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Watch me." Was all he said with his voice dark and his peering down at her.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him. "Vilkas, I have to go."

"Why? Why do you have to go? Why not someone else in the Companions?" He asked.

It was a good question, one that Hope didn't have an answer for and one she had asked the Jarl. All he said was that she was the only right person for it, and she believed him. She believed that **she** had to do it, that she was...meant to do it. Gods, she felt crazy for thinking like that, but she couldn't help it. She also couldn't get Vilkas out of the way. "Vilkas move."

"No." He said stubbornly. "It's only been a few days since you've come back and you've only just now got on your feet today. You must be completely mad if you think I'm going to let you go off into some crumbling ruin for something that's probably not even there!" He didn't mean to yell, but he did and when he did, he made Hope wince as if he had just thrown a punch at her.

She stares up at him for a moment, with big green eyes that he always found himself getting lost in and then asked. "Why do you care so much?"

He freezes as his heart quickly skips a beat and then thuds against his chest hard, sending an ache through it. It was a reasonable question but a question he wasn't expecting. Why wouldn't he care anyways? Was it such a big deal that he worried about her safety and well being? No it wasn't because...he worried about the other Companions too so it was the same as that.

"It's not like this really has to do with the Companions or anything." She pointed out. "In fact, I would rather non of you get involved..." She said with her eyes slowly trailing down to the floor.

What? Why would she say that? Of course he was going to get involved! No way in oblivion was he going to let her go through this alone because he...

"I'm going with you." He decided, making Hope quickly look up at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" She questioned.

"One way or another, you're going to sneak off to that ruin because I can't always keep my eyes on you. So, if you're going to go, I'm going with you." He told her.

She quickly scoffs at him. "No you're not."

"You can't stop me." He mimics her voice, making her quickly furrow her eyebrows down at him again.

Hope stares at him for a long moment and he only stares back, creating more tension in the air between them. After a minute longer Hope sighs and finally gives in. "Fine." She said with her arms crossing. She looked irritated and she looked annoyed, but Vilkas could also see a small hint of relief behind those two emotions. Relief that she wasn't going alone and she didn't have to do it alone.

"You'll need some armor before you head off." Eorlunds voice startled them both, making them jump and then quickly turn around to face him. He was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "Unless you were planning on going in nothing but cloth, which I think wouldn't really be a good idea." He joked with a small smile as well as a shrug.

"I was actually just going to look for you and ask if you had any spares laying around." Hope told him as she took a step towards him. "I have something better for you than old spares." He said while standing up straight from the door frame. Hope stared at him with her eyebrows pinched together, wondering what he was going on about.

"Really lass? You've forgotten about the armor you asked me to forge?" He questioned with an eyebrow cocked.

Hope stared at him for a moment longer before her eyes went wide. She really did forget all about that, so much has happened she never got the chance to stop and wonder about it. "It's done?" She asked with her eyes remaining wide. Eorlund chuckles in response and then motions his hand for her to follow him. "Come see for yourself." He told her before turning and walking away. Hope quickly follows after him with Vilkas trailing right behind her, making sure she didn't try to leave with out him. He felt like she wouldn't, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

They follow Eorlund through Jorrvaskr and then outside to his forge. When they reach the top of the stares, Hope stops and watches him make his way over to his work table. "Come on over." He told her. Hope quickly did so, eager to see how the armor she requested turned out.

When she reached him and found her armor, she was more than pleased. It was folded with the pants beneath it, but from what she could see of it, she saw it's beauty. The leather of the armor was fresh and smooth, the newly attached straps and buckles laid against the fresh material and she couldn't help but reach a hand out and touch the spotless iron buckles. Her eye's then catch the sleeves, not expecting them to be what they are. Instead of sleeveless like the woman's armor in Riften, it had chain-mail for sleeves. She slowly brought her hand over to the chain-mail and ran a finger down the tight steel braids. She couldn't help but be an awe at how they seemed to glimmer and sparkle in the sunlight. Gods the armor was beautiful and it was more than she could of hoped for.

"By your expression, I take it that you like it." Eorlund said with pride showing in his voice. "I do." Hope replied. "It's beautiful." She smiled.

She then slowly furrowed her eyebrows down as she took her hand away from the armor, suddenly becoming concerned with how much it was going to cost. Everything in it was so detailed and perfect, she imagined it was probably going to cost her all the coin she's saved up for it. "How much is it?" She asked with her eyes meeting Eorlund's.

"Don't worry about it." He told her, making her eyes go very wide.  
"What?" She questioned. "No, Eorlund this must of taken a lot to make. I have to give you something for it." She insisted.

"Just keep doing what you do out there." Was all he said before giving her shoulder a squeeze and then walking away.

Hope watched him walk way with her eyebrows knit together. She couldn't believe that he was just giving her the armor, it was a beautiful piece of armor and she felt bad that she didn't give him anything for it.

She slowly turns her head back to the armor and all she can think is. _'Gods.'_ As she stared down at the glimmering chain-mail sleeves. A slow smile crept on her face as she picked up the pile of armor, feeling excited about putting it on. She quickly turns and rushes past Vilkas with a very big smile planted on her face. He couldn't help but show a smile of his own as he watched her rush down the stone steps. _'I'll just wait for her outside.'_ He decided as he himself started to head down the stairs.

It took Hope a good amount of time before she figured out how to put the armor on properly. It had more belts and straps than her last one and it was made of completely different material, but when she finally got all the pieces on and the last belt tightened, she couldn't believe how comfortable her armor was.

It was light where her last armor was heavy, it gave her room to move where her last armor constricted her movement, the only thing it did have in common with her last armor was that it still protected her and she couldn't be more happy about it.

She couldn't help but smile as she slid on the gloves. She then gave herself a quick look over before placing her belt around her waist and grabbing her bag. She quickly headed for the door, knowing that Vilkas was most likely becoming impatient with waiting on her.

She was right. _'Gods.'_ Vilkas had become impatient with her but that was five minutes ago. Now he was tapping his fingers on the table as he sighed and grumbled to himself. "Just how long does someone need to change into simple armor?" He grumbled. "Did her head get stuck?" He mumbled.

 _'Gods.'_ He sighed again as he leaned back in his chair with his hand rubbing his forehead.

"Hey." Vilkas quickly removes his hand from his head and looks to find Farkas standing in front of him. Vilkas slowly sits back up in his chair with an eyebrow raising up at his brother. "Have you seen Hope?" Farkas asked.

"She's getting changed." Vilkas told him with his eyebrow remaining cocked. "Oh.." Farkas said as he looked down to his feet.

Vilkas stared at his brother for a moment before sitting back in his chair with his arms crossing over his chest. "Why?" He questioned.

Farkas looks back up at him "I heard from Kodlak that she got a job from the Jarl that has something to do with the...dragons and I was going to see if she needed any help." He explained.

"Why?" Vilkas questioned again with his eyebrows now furrowing.

Farkas quickly furrows his eyebrows back. "Why? Because I don't think she should be doing this alone." He explained. "I believe her about what happened to Helgen, so I think it's the right thing to do."

"Well she's not doing it alone." Vilkas told him. "I'm going with her, I'm helping her."

Farkas cocks an eyebrow up at him. "Well..maybe she'll welcome some extra help."

"I doubt it." Vilkas said, making Farkas quickly furrow his eyebrows down at him. "I had to really convince Hope in letting me come with her, so I doubt you'll be able to convince her, you've never been one for talking anyways." That came out a bit harsher than Vilkas meant it to and after he said it, he didn't know why he had said it like that, it just came out.

Farkas quickly scoffed at him before opening his mouth to argue, but the door opening behind Vilkas stopped him and had them both looking towards it.

When Hope stepped through the door way, both of their eyes widened when they saw how she looked in her knew armor.

Vilkas couldn't help but admire the way the leather and the straps of her armor hugged her body in all the right places and he didn't care if it showed in his eyes. His eyes trailed down her cuirass and examined the straps, his mind immediately wondering how long it would take to unstrap those.

Then the glimmer from her chain-mail caught his eye, he examined the long sleeves and admired the small braids done in the steel. Eorlund truly was the best blacksmith in Skyrim. His eyes slowly fall to the small gloves she wore, he liked the way they look with her armor and liked how simple they were. Unlike his heavy gauntlets, they looked light but sturdy enough to keep the bow string from cutting into her fingers.

He then allows his eyes to move down towards the dark leather trousers that hugged her legs like the cuirass she wore, he examined her boots and just like her gloves, they were simple, light, and sturdy. They would keep her footsteps silent but also keep her legs safe from flying arrows or swinging blades.

"Hope." Farkas spoke, snapping Vilkas out of his deep thoughts. Vilkas furrows his eyebrows as he watches his brother quickly approach her. "Kodlak told me about the job you got from the Jarl." He said. "Would it be okay if I came along with you and Vilkas?"

Hope looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together. "You want to come with us?" She asked a bit surprised. "I do." Farkas nodded. "I believe you about what happened to Helgen." He started to explain. "And I want to help you, after everything you've been through, I don't want you to do this alone, I don't want you to think you have to do this alone." He said with a smooth voice and half-smile that Vilkas always hated.

"Besides." Farkas smiled again. "I've seen how you've been limping around, so I just thought an extra hand would be welcomed."

"It is." Hope said with a smile, making Vilkas's jaw drop. "You're welcome to come with us if you want, Farkas." She gave him another smile that almost had Vilkas gagging. "I honestly thought I could and had to do this alone, but when Vilkas told me he was coming with me, I felt a lot of relief I didn't expect to feel." She explained, making Vilkas feel a bit different now. "So yeah, the more help the better." She said with a smile aimed towards both of them.

"Great." Farkas smiled. "Just let me gather a few things before heading out, it'll only take a minute." He told her before quickly walking around her and into Jorrvaskr.

Hope watched him for a moment before turning her attention back to Vilkas. He was staring at her for a moment but when her eyes fell on him, he quickly looked away and didn't know why he did when he did. _'Gods, get a hold of yourself.'_

"Uhm..." She starts to speak, but looked too embarrassed to continue. Vilkas doesn't know why, but his heart leaps in his chest. Gods, why would it do that? There was no reason for it to do that. But the way her eyes were looking around and the slight flush rising in her cheeks had his heart speeding up in his chest. What was she trying to say? Why did she seem to be too scared to say it?

"Do think there's an extra bow and sword here somewhere?" She asked, making Vilkas's heart quickly stop it's fast beating. Oh yeah, she didn't have any of her weapons with her when they found her on the road, so of course that's what she would be asking for. Gods, what else would she need to ask or say? _'Get a grip of yourself.'_

"Most likely." Vilkas said with a sigh as he got up from his chair. "Check the weapons rack or ask Eorlund." He told her before slowly turning away and rubbing the back of his neck. Hope cocked an eyebrow up at him before walking around him to do what he had suggested.

She made her way to the weapons rack in the training yard and was pleased to see a steel sword on it, but there was no bow or arrows. She sighed as she looked up at the hill that had the forge on it and then sighed again when she remembered that Eorlund left the forge before she tried on her armor. _'Maybe Aela has an extra bow...'_

She turned around to head back to Jorrvaskr and found Vilkas staring at her again, but like last time when she looked at him, he quickly looked away. _'Why is he acting weird?'_ She wondered as she walked back towards Jorrvaskr. "I'm going to go ask Aela if she has an extra bow, I'll be right back." She told him. "Yeah, good idea." He sighed with a hand running through his hair. Hope cocked an eyebrow up at him before walking past him, again taking notice to his sudden strange behavior.

Vilkas knew he was acting weird, but didn't know why. Ever since they found her on the road, he's felt different. He's felt protective, worried, anxious, and...afraid. And one would think that it was the tale of dragons about that caused all of those things to stir inside of him, but it wasn't. It was Hope, it was the sudden change in her and the sudden change of..everything. It was change he couldn't prevent, no matter how badly he wanted to. He felt useless and he felt vulnerable.

All he really could do was try and stay by Hope as long as possible, make sure she was safe and okay. He made a promise to her father, to himself that he would and it was one he intended on keeping. Even though the events happening around them told him that he wasn't going to be able to that for very long...


	48. Chapter 48

**Just so you guys know, I'm most likely going to start posting the updates on Friday's now because of the way my schedule is changing ^.^" _Hope_ ;) that's okay with you guys! I also _Hope_ you guys like this chapter! ;D (kay I'll stop..)**

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"So you lost your bow and your sword on the job?" Farkas asked as he, Vilkas, and Hope were walking down a road that led to a short cut that Vilkas and Hope once took from Riverwood. "Yeah..." Hope sighed, not enjoying the humility that came from the memory. "I actually forgot a sword though...it was just my bow that I lost..." She hesitantly admitted.

A small chuckle from Vilkas had Hope quickly looking at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "What?" She questioned. "Oh nothing." He replied. "I just remember the days when I used to make rookie mistakes like that."

Hope scoffed. "I'm sure you've made plenty of mistakes since then."

"Oh, he has." Farkas chuckled, making Vilkas quickly look at him with a 'don't you dare' look. But he ignored the nasty look and went right a head on telling Hope the many stories he had of his brother, and she enjoyed it. She enjoyed hearing about Vilkas before she knew him, she enjoyed the humor and the calmness about it, and she enjoyed the laughter, the teasing; she just enjoyed everything about it.

It was something she didn't know she needed at that moment, because in just an hour or two, they'll be entering an old crumbling ruin looking for something that just might have the answers she's looking for, but might also change everything in her life.

The time that it takes them to reach the path to the ruin is filled with mostly small talk and stories that the two brothers shared about each other that both of them rather didn't share and when the stories came out, Hope just had to laugh.

But when they reach the snowy trail, they start to fall silent. There was no real reason for it, but it happened and Hope couldn't help but feel it was because of uncertainty. Uncertainty of how the ruin was going to look and just what was roaming in its ancient walls, uncertainty of what was going to happen inside of the ruin and what was going to happen after. All thoughts that Vilkas tried to keep out of his head, but couldn't. Every time he pushed one away, another would swoop in and take its place.

"How much farther?" Hope asked, breaking the heavy silence that was between them. "If I remember right, not far." Vilkas told her. Before they left Jorrvaskr, Hope told Vilkas where the Jarl thought the ruin was and immediately he knew what she was talking about. Bleak Falls Barrow, a large ruin that hid in the mountains and cast a large shadow over Riverwood. He'd heard stories about it before, about how it held something ancient dating back to the dragon war, something that couldn't just be unlocked by anyone...and even though he tried, Vilkas couldn't ignore the fortuity of the situation.

 _ **CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH**_ The path soon starts to turn into a snowy one, making their footsteps loud and impossible to hide if they needed to. _'At least we'll hear them coming too.'_ Vilkas thought to himself as they continued up the mountain path.

They walk up the path with cold wind hitting them all in the face, While Vilkas and Farkas shivered in their hard steel armor, Hope was thankful for the leather hugging her body. Finally after what felt like hours, they reach the top of the mountain and take another path that lead them across it.

"We're getting close." Vilkas told them as they walked through the snow. "Think there might be some bandits there?" Farkas asked. "Most likely, that lot usually takes to holding up in old ruins." Vilkas replied.

 _'Great.'_ Hope sighed. Bleak Falls Barrow being an old ruin, Hope knew that they were going to mostly likely come across draugr, but bandits? She didn't know if she could take any more death, she witnessed enough of that at Helgen and then some...

The image of Hadvar covered in blood quickly flashed in her mind, forcing her to shut her eyes and then shake her head to make the unwelcoming image go away. "You okay?" Farkas asked, noticing Hope's sudden strange behavior.

Hope quickly looked at him and gave him a small smile. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She told him. "Just a shiver from the cold."

Farkas stared at her for a moment, not sure he believed her but he let it go and continued looking forward as they walked.

Soon, in the distance Hope could see the top of the ruin peek through the mountains and then before she knew it, they were standing in front of the great stair case that led up to it. _'Gods.'_ She didn't expect it to be so big and the thought of what could be roaming its great, ancient halls sent fearful shivers down her spine.

Farkas starts to take a step towards the stairs, but Vilkas quickly grabs his shoulder and stops him. "Wait!"

Farkas quickly turned his head and looked at him with questioning furrowed eyebrows. "Look." Vilkas told him with his head nudging towards the top of the stairs. Farkas looked and then felt stupid when he saw a bandit look out standing at one of the sides on the ruin with a bow ready in their hand. They hadn't seen them yet, but they were still on guard which meant they had no chance at sneaking up on them.

"Okay..." Vilkas breathed as he slowly got down to the ground and motioned the other two to do the same. Hope watches his eyes run along the platform that the stairs led to and saw another look out walking with a hand placed on the hilt of their sword. He then moved his eyes to the far side of the ruin and saw another archer standing with their bow drawn.

"Okay." He breathed again before turning his attention back to Hope and Farkas. "As far as I know there are only three, but there could be more just on the other side of the ruin, so keep your guards up when we charge." He explained. "Farkas and I will be the ones charging, Hope I want you to stay behind and cover us with arrows." He told her.

Hope quickly looked away from him with her jaw tightened. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at her, sensing the emotions surfacing in her. "What? What's wrong?" He asked. Hope didn't answer, he watched her ponder through what looked like troubling thoughts before she turned her head back towards him. "Nothing." She sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Vilkas and Farkas both stared at her for a moment before looking at each other and then getting to their feet. "Alright, let's go and remember to keep your eyes peeled for any extra enemies." He told them and they both nodded in response.

When they reach the middle of the giant stair case, Farkas and Vilkas both immediately charge the rest of the way with their weapons drawn, making everyone that was on the top jump and ready their weapons. Hope quickly pulls an arrow back and shoots down the closest archer before they can get their own arrow knocked back.

She then aims for the other and hits them in the shoulder with an arrow, taking them down to the ground. Farkas quickly ran over to them and stabbed his sword through their chest while Vilkas blocked a bandit's sword and then plunged his blade through that bandit's gut. Hope watches with her eyebrows pinched and doesn't see a third archer step out from a broken statue behind her.

Farkas looks up and his eyes widen when he sees the archer with her arrow already pulled back and aimed for Hope's head. "Look out!" He shouts, causing Vilkas to quickly spin around. By the time Hope turns to look, the archer already releases her arrow. Luckily Hope moved her head in time and only gained a deep cut from the arrow's tip gliding against the skin of her cheek. Once the arrow passes, Hope acts quickly and knocks an arrow back. Before the bandit can even move to grab another arrow, Hope releases hers and hits her right in the skull. She winces when she watches the bandit's head ricochet back from the impact and then watches her lifeless body hit the ground hard.

"Are you okay?!" Vilkas asked as he and Farkas both ran over to her. "I'm fine." Hope told him as she turned to look at him. Vilkas examined the cut on her cheek and watched blood trickle down her face from it. He reached into his side pack and pulled out a rag. Vilkas held it out to her and she took it from him, gently placing it on the bleeding cut.

"I think we got all of them." Farkas said as he eye'd the new corpse's laying on the ground. "Out here, at least." Vilkas sighed. "How many do you think there are inside?" Hope asked with her eyebrows knit together. "I don't know, but by the looks of how the others were walking around and looking at everything, I'd say they haven't been here very long. So hopefully there won't be too many inside and if there are, than maybe the draugr will wipe them out for us."

"Then we'll have to deal with the draugr." Farkas pointed out as he and Vilkas both turned and started to walk towards the entrance. "Yeah, but they're usually easier to take down than bandits." Vilkas replied. "Not always..." Farkas mumbled.

Hope watched them both walk away for a moment, dreading whatever they were going to face inside. She slowly looked to the sky and saw that the sun was already starting to lower itself behind the mountains in the distance. She sighed, knowing that tonight was going to be a very long...and bloody night.

It takes Vilkas and Farkas both to open the large iron doors to the ruin and when the doors move, they groan and creak. Hope cringes at the horrid sounds coming from the old doors and hopes that no one was close enough to hear them open.

"Alright." Vilkas breaths as he and Farkas step away from the now open doors. He turns to Hope. "Keep your eyes open, we have no idea what may be in here." He told her and she gave him a nod in response. Farkas and Vilkas both nod to each other before entering the old, musty ruin.

When they walk in, a cold wind hits them. One that traveled from the dept of the ruin and carried the smell of death with it. Hope's stomach twists into knots as she looks around at the large open coffins in the chamber and hopes that whatever had opened them, was long dead...dead.

They walk a bit further into the chamber when. "Get down!" Vilkas said in a hushed whisper, causing Farkas and Hope to do just that. All three get down to a crouching position and quietly walk on the dirty stone floor, stepping over rocks and anything that could give them away. "What is it?" Hope asked quietly and Vilkas just shushed her in response as they stopped at a fallen pillar.

Vilkas then nudges his head forward, showing them two bandits sitting around a small fire that had old linen wrap and oil in it. Some of the linen wrap must of been used because Vilkas could smell a hint of burning flesh from the fire. "There's only two of them." Farkas points out quietly as he slowly reaches for his sword. "Yeah, but one of them is an archer." Vilkas replied.

Farkas looks a head and sees the one Vilkas was talking about. "We can charge them, but I'm certain that the archer will send an arrow flying at one of us before we can reach them." Vilkas explained. "Okay, so what do you want us to do?" Farkas asked. Vilkas slowly turns to Hope, who lifts an eyebrow up at him in response.

"You're the quietest one out of the three of us, not to mention your armor is a whole lot lighter than ours. So do you think you could sneak over to that pillar over there and take them both out?"

"Both?" Hope questioned. "Both." Vilkas nodded.

Hope's eyebrows pinch together as she looks towards the pillar in the distance that Vilkas was talking about. There wasn't a lot of light in the chamber they were in, so it was possible for Hope to sneak over with out being seen, but could she really take out two bandits like Vilkas wanted her to? _'Maybe.'_ If she took out the archer first and of course the second bandit would react but if Hope is fast, faster than him, she can take him down before he even knows what hit him.

Hope slowly moves around her fellow Companions and quietly makes her way across the chamber. Farkas and Vilkas both watch her, amazed at how silent her footsteps were. Her heel would first come into contact with the floor and then it would slowly roll to her toes, keeping her completely quiet. The two bandits had no idea what was coming for them.

As Hope approaches the pillar, she hears a conversation start up between the two bandits. "You think it was smart letting him go off on his own like that?" It was the woman archer. "If the damn fool gets killed it's his own fault." The other replied. "Yeah, but if he gets killed we won't get our share!" The archer argued. "You want to go after him, be my guest but I'm not taking another step in this damn ruin. I hate these places." He mumbled the last sentence, allowing Hope to catch a small hint of fear in his voice.

With a quiet but heavy sigh, Hope slowly pulls her bow out as well as an arrow. She slowly knocks the arrow back as she aims the tip of it right at the archers head. Despite the tightening in her chest, she releases the arrow and watches it land in the middle of the woman's forehead. "Huh!?" The other bandit quickly got up to his feet with his sword drawn but found an arrow piercing through the back of his neck before he could get the chance to turn around. Hope shut her eyes for a moment as she listened to him choke on his own blood and then hit the floor hard.

She slowly got to her feet and approached the two she just took out. A sickened look appeared on her face as she saw that the bandit she just shot was still choking on his blood. _'Gods.'_ She quickly turns away from him with her eyes falling shut.

The images from Helgen come back to her once again, making her quickly relive the horror of that day. It was mostly the blood though, all of the blood...

"Good job." Vilkas congratulating her on the brutal death she just brought down on an unsuspecting victim, knocks her out of it. She slowly opens her eyes but she doesn't turn around to look at him, because if she did then her eyes would fall on the two she just killed. So, with out saying a word she puts her bow back in its place and then walks further into the ruin. Vilkas and Farkas both quickly exchange glances before following after Hope.

They walked down a long descending hall that led away from the first chamber. That hallway then soon twists into large turns that had the others feeling nervous. It made it hard to watch for enemies but strangely after the first chamber, they don't come across any more. "Why haven't we run into any draugr yet?" Hope wondered out loud.

"They're most likly residing in the debts of the ruin." Vilkas told her. "They usually do."

"Right..." Hope sighed, dreading the encounter of the awful beast's.

They continue to walk further down into the ruin, Hope would occasionally look around at the structure but most of it was either destroyed or so old that the carvings were worn away. So there wasn't much to look at. "Hey!" Farkas's hushed voice makes Hope and Vilkas freeze in place.

They both turn to look at him and he nudges his head forward. They slowly turn around and about a foot away from them was a small staircase and descending down the staircase, was a man. A bandit, they assumed from the clothing he wore.

Vilkas and Farkas both slowly crouched to the ground as Hope silently stepped towards the stairs with her bow being removed from her back. She then creeps down the small stair case as she watches the bandit walk into what looked like another chamber. She stopped a few steps away from the bottom of the stairs and slowly knocked back an arrow. She pointed the tip of the arrow at the back of his neck, but then paused.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him look around the chamber with a confused look on his face. Hope slowly walks down the rest of the stairs and then quickly, but quietly hides behind the wall near the door. She gets down on her knees and peeks out from the doorway.

Her eyebrows shot up when she saw the strange marked stones decorating the top walls of the chamber, she then moved her eyes down and saw another set of stones that matched the ones on the walls, but they looked different...

Then on the far end of the chamber was a large iron gate, blocking the path to move forward. Across from that gate was a wooden lever. She watched the bandit hesitantly grab the lever and pull. The moment he did, little poisoned darts shoot from every direction of the room and pierce through his body. Hope quickly turns her head and shuts her eyes, not wanting to witness the grim death he was going through. She heard a loud painful cry escape from the bandit and then silence following after his body hits the floor.

She slowly stands to her feet and looks to the punctured body with blood quickly pooling beneath it. _'Gods.'_

Vilkas and Farkas both rush down the stairs and look to the lifeless body with their eyes wide. "I take it you didn't do that." Vilkas said. "No, it was some kind of trap..." Hope told him as she slowly and carefully entered the small chamber. Farkas and Vilkas followed close behind and looked over every inch of the room.

They spot the many holes on the tops of the walls that the bandit somehow missed. "The ancient Nords sure were protective of their secrets..." Farkas commented as he examined the strange pillars on the floor.

"There's similar stones on the walls like those." Hope said, noticing Farkas's eyes going straight to the strange carvings. "So it's some kind of puzzle..." Vilkas said as he too examined the strange carvings closely.

"Whatever it is, let's just make sure we get it right unless we want to end up like him." Hope said with her eyes on the body as a frown forms on her face.

A loud screeching noise has both Vilkas and Hope jumping and nearly fainting from a heart attack. They both quickly turn in the direction the noise came from and saw Farkas standing near one of the pillars with a painful cringing look on his face.

Vilkas sighs as he pinches the nose of his bridge, feeling foolish for jumping like he did. Hope furrows her eyebrows down at the pillar that Farkas just messed with and noticed it was turned a completely different way, showing a new carving. "Farkas, what did you do?" She asked a she approached the pillar.

"I uh..I noticed that there was something a little off about it, so I tried to shift it a bit and it turned on it's own." He explained.

Hope blinked as she stared at the pillar hard before turning her attention towards the carvings on the upper wall. She examined them closely before looking back to the carving on the pillar. She hesitantly reached forward and pushed hard on one side of the pillar and then jumped when it turned completely on its own. The sound it made was horrid, but the next carving it showed had Hope's eyes lighting up.

She quickly goes to the next pillar and then looks up at the next carving on the wall. "What are you doing?" Vilkas asked as he watched her with furrowed eyebrows. "Just watch." She told him as she pushed on the pillar till it showed the carving she wanted and then she did the exact same on the next one. "Vilkas, go pull the lever." She told him.

"What? Are you crazy?" He replied. "Just trust me." Hope said with her face turning towards him that had a small smile forming on it. Vilkas stared at her for a moment, unsure if he should listen to her or not. An irritated sigh leaves Hope as she quickly storms over to the lever. "Fine, I'll do it." She said. "You big baby..." She then mumbled as she pulled back the wooden handle.

The moment she did, they all heard a loud click that had Farkas and Vilkas both quickly diving to the floor with their arms covering their heads, thinking it would actually help if poisoned darts shot out at them.

They both lay there in silence for a good minute before hearing the large iron gate lift up. Vilkas and Farkas both slowly lift their heads up and see that what Hope did, actually worked. "Really guys?" Hope retorted before walking off towards the now open gate.

Vilkas and Farkas both slowly get to their feet as they clear their throats. "I was only following your lead." Farkas said to Vilkas. "And I was only joking so you're the only one that looked like a fool." Vilkas said back as they both followed after Hope, continuing on into the deep ruin.


	49. Chapter 49

**Hey guys! I'm really sorry about the late update, lately my internet has been really dumb and has been preventing me from doing stuff but it seems to be working now! So I hope you guys like this chapter! (FYI I didn't really proof read this chapter a whole lot because it was so long and it's now really late so I hope it's not too bad! I might go over it again tomorrow on here just to make sure it's okay!)**

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Soon after the room with the puzzle, the Companions come across a long, descending wooden ramp that leads them to a few skeevers. But they were able to take care of the skeevers no problem and now they were walking down a long hall that never seemed to end.

"I can't believe we still haven't run into any draugr.." Farkas commented as he looked around at their surroundings. "This place must run real deep inside the mountain..." Hope said with her eyes on her walking feet.

"Just keep an eye out, both of you. It may seem quiet now but you both know as well as I do that we could run into several draugr at any given minute. Especially in places like these..." Said Vilkas as he walked a head of both of them.

Hope sighs dreadfully as she removes her bow from her back, just in case...

Suddenly, Farkas stops and every muscle in his body freezes. Hope and Vilkas both stop and turn to him with their eyebrows lifted. "What? What is it?" Vilkas asked as he took a step towards his brother. Hope watched Farkas take in a deep breath and then shiver violently.

"Up..up ahead are-" Before he can finish, he's cut off by a scream. "Is-Is someone there!" They hear an unfamiliar man yell. "Please help me!"

Vilkas and Hope both take off running down the long hall. "Guys! Wait!" Farkas calls after them but then very hesitantly...follows them.

In mere minutes they reach a doorway that is covered with webbing so thick that Vilkas had to chop it down with his great-sword. Then, him and Hope both burst through the door and find a man, at the very far end of the room, strung up tightly in thick webbing.

"Gods! How many spiders are there to string him up like that!" Hope yelled and soon was answered when one, giant spider, bigger than any troll or house, drops from the ceiling right in front of them. "Just one..." Farkas said in a shaky voice as he stood far behind them.

The giant frost-bite spider quickly lunges right at them and all three Companions had to jump in different directions to dodge its massive attack. Hope and Vilkas both ready their weapons as they watch the spider slowly turn itself towards Farkas. "Of course, it just had to be me!" Farkas shouted as he pulled out his own weapons with shaky hands.

The spider let out a gods awful screech before lunging for Farkas with its fangs dripping poison. Farkas barely escapes its attack and barley has enough time to dodge its next one. "A little help please!" He yelled with more desperation in his voice than he meant to show, but really at the time, he didn't care.

Hope quickly knocks back an arrow and sends it flying right towards the spider. The arrow sticks into one of its legs, causing it to screech in pain and then turn towards to Hope with anger pooling in its many eyes. Hope sends another arrow flying, but his time had it aimed for one of its eyes; but when the arrow got close to the spider, it quickly blocked it with one of its legs.

Hope stares at it with wide eyes. "Well that's a new one!" She shouted as she quickly had to jump out of the way from another of its attacks. She scrambled on her feet when she dodged, nearly causing herself to be caught between its fangs, but she was able to regain herself and run away from it. Vilkas and although hesitantly, Farkas both charge the spider from behind and cut into its back legs with their great-swords.

Causing it to screech in pain before falling over. Hope then spins around with an arrow already ready and releases it. She watches it land right in the middle of the spiders head, but it wasn't enough to kill it. That's when Vilkas quickly stabs his sword into its body and then out of no where, Farkas runs around the spider and starts to slam the blade of his great-sword down right onto its head and many eyes. "AAAH!" He shouted as he continued to cut up the spider even though it was now very much dead.

Hope watched with wide eyes and thought about stopping him. "Just let him do it." Vilkas said as he walked to Hope. "It helps him." He told her while putting his great-sword back in its place.

"Excuse me!" A shout from behind make both Hope and Vilkas jump while also making them remember the trapped man. They turn around and face him, finding a very irritated look on his face. "Have you seriously forgotten about me!" He shouted angrily.

Hope and Vilkas both exchange glances before approaching the man stuck in webbing. Farkas took a few more strikes out on the spider before finally taking a step back and taking a breath, even though he was now covered in its green looking guts.

"Quite a situation you're in." Vilkas said to the Dark Elf as he and Hope stopped in front of him. "Is that supposed to be funny!?" He yelled. "I could of been killed!"

"It would've been your own fault." Hope said, making him quickly turn to her with a sneer. "You're the one those bandits were talking about aren't you? Even though they weren't quick on their feet, they seemed to a bit smarter than you."

The man scoffed and spat at Hope. "And just what kind of person makes fun at a man at death's door!" He shouted. "Obviously not close enough to knock on that door because you seem to be lively enough from here." Vilkas muttered.

"Like I said, the situation your in is completely your own fault. You couldn't convince your fellow bandits to follow you this deep so you made a fools choice in coming alone." She said with her arms crossing.

"I am no bandit!" The man shouted in offense. "I'm a treasure hunter! There's a difference!"

Hope and Vilkas both look at each other while Farkas slowly walks up behind them, feeling a bit better than he did moments ago. "If you're not a bandit, than why were there bandits with you?" Vilkas asked with his eyes going back to the Dark Elf.

"Because bandits will do anything if you promise them wealth and treasure, at least I thought they would until we reached this damn place." He told them. "If it wasn't for them cowards, I'd be gone and rich by now!"

Hope blinked as she stared at the complaining Darl Elf. She then watched him eye each and every one of them, especially their weapons. "You lot obviously aren't bandits..." He pointed out as he observed their well made armor. "Which means you're probably a lot smarter than bandits..."

"What are you going on about?" Vilkas asked with his eyebrows down in a furrow.

"Cut me down from here...and I'll split the treasure with you!"

"We're not interested in the treasure." Hope told him.

"Okay fine, forget about the treasure. Cut me loose...and I'll help you get through this place."

Vilkas quickly scoffs at him. "What makes you think we need your help?"

"Because I have the only thing that will let you pass through this place." The Dark Elf told him, making the three Companions quickly look at each other.

"I know all about it, the great door that blocks the ancient Nord's secrets, secrets that no body has been able to reach." He continued. "Secrets...that you're probably here for..."

Hope looks back to him and stares at him for a good moment before slowly unsheathing her sword. "You really trust him?" Vilkas asked with his eyebrows furrowed. "No..." Hope told him. "But better to be safe than sorry, besides we'll need to cut him down anyways if we want to get any further."

Vilkas and Farkas both quickly look around the Dark Elf and saw the webbed up doorway behind him. "Thank the gods!" The Elf cheered. "Now hurry up and get me down!"

Hope stepped up on a fallen stone and began to carefully cut away the thick webbing holding his limbs and body down. She first cut the webbing around his arms and then finished down by his legs, webbing blocking the doorway behind him started to fall apart as she sliced through it to free him. The moment the last part of the thick webbing was cut away, the Elf falls hard to the stone floor. He sits on his hands and knees for a moment, catching his breath before slowly standing up and looking at them.

"So..what's your-" Before Hope could finish her sentence, the Elf takes off running through the now open doorway. "Hey!" Hope shouts before quickly taking off after him with Vilkas and Farkas right behind her. "You're a fool if you think I'll share the knowledge of Bleak Falls Barrow with you!" He yelled as he ran away.

They chase him through a small chamber that had several burial urns aligning the walls and then chased him down a descending slope that quickly turned. The Elf was fast and had already turned and disappeared. He wasn't too far though because they could hear his running footsteps echo through the ancient halls of the ruin. Then it's not long until they hear his blood curdling scream echo off of the walls.

They all come to a quick halt for a moment with their eyes going wide. His screams last a good while and echo through out the ruin even longer. After quickly glancing at each other, they all take off running again, turning where they last saw him and it's not long afterwords when they all come too another quick stop, with their eyes wide. Because now in front of them, was a massive catacomb with draugr laying inside the walls, except not all of them were at rest. A few feet in front of them was the fleeing Dark Elf..hanging off of a draugr's great-sword.

Hope watched his body quickly fall limp backwards and was horrified to see his eyes were still open wide and his mouth still hung agape, he was well dead, but she could still see the painful emotions painted on his face.

 _'Gods.'_ She quickly pulls out her bow as well as an arrow as she and the other two behind her watch three more draugr step out from behind the first massive draugr. The draugr yanks it's sword from the Elf and slowly looks up towards them. It's mouth slightly parts to let out a growl that sent shivers up Hope's spine.

Suddenly, something flies at them from the distance. It zips passed Vilkas's face and then hits the wall beside him hard. Vilkas quickly looks and sees that it was an arrow, he then snaps his head in the direction it came from and saw a draugr standing on the other side of the chamber, with an arrow pointing right at him.

"Hope!" Vilkas shouts as he and Farkas both ready their swords. They all quickly spread out through the chamber as the archer draugr sends another arrow flying for them. The other four draugr quickly spread out as well, trying to overwhelm them. Hope quickly pulls back an arrows as she runs and then releases it, it hits the draugr in the middle of its skull and fortunately, it did the job because the draugr quickly fell limp and hit the floor.

Farkas cuts down two draugr at once with a hard swing from his great-sword. Their brittle bones snap, making them quickly hit the floor. Only one remained alive after that but not for long because Farkas slammed his blade down onto it's fragile skull.

Vilkas was in a corner with the last two draugr, he was blocking one's attacks and trying to dodge the others at the same time. But the second draugr kept seeing the opportunities and refused to let up. "Dammit!" Vilkas cursed as he gritted his teeth while his arms were beginning to hurt. Hope quickly pulls an arrow back and shoots it at the second draugr. She watches it stick in the back of its neck but not kill it.

The draugr slowly turns it's head towards her with a growl escaping its decaying mouth. Vilkas quickly slams his sword against the draugr attacking him and then plunges his blade right through it's chest. He yanks his sword out and then plunges it through the back of the other one before it could charge at Hope, the moment his blade stuck through the draugr another arrow hit it right in it's eye socket.

He yanked his sword out of the draugr and watched it drop to the ground. He breaths heavily as he slowly places his sword back into it's place on his back. He looks up to Farkas and Hope, making sure that they were both unharmed.

"Stupid fool." Farkas said as he and Hope both approached the Dark Elf's corpse. He laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood with the same fearful expression on his face. Hope sighed as she hesitantly bent down and worked his bag off of him. She opened the bag up and looked in it with wide eyes.  
"What?" Vilkas asked, noticing Hope's surprised expression. "What's in it?"

Hope reaches into the blood soaked bag and slowly pulls out a large, gold object that was in the shape of a..claw.

"What is that?" Farkas asked with his eyebrows furrowing.

Hope examined the gold claw carefully, she examined it's shape as she started to turn it in her hand. On the inside of it's claws, she found strange carvings. She slowly traces her fingers over the carvings and is instantly reminded of the carvings that were on the strange pillars in the last chamber they were in.

"I'm guessing this is the key to getting through this place." Hope said as she examined it a bit more.

Vilkas takes the bag from Hope and digs through it a bit more, to see if there was anything in it to help them. But all he finds is dirty clothing and a journal. He pulls the journal out and flips through it as he drops the bag to the ground. "Anything useful in there?" Farkas asked. "Not really." Vilkas replied. "It does say that he stole that claw from the Riverwood Trader though."

"Go a head and keep it." Hope told him. "You never know." She said as she placed the claw into her own bag. Vilkas nodded and placed it in his pack. "Come on." Hope said as she turned away from them and began to walk. "I saw a way through over here." She told them. Vilkas and Farkas both quickly follow after her and they continue on into the ruin.

The catacombs stretch downward, taking them deeper into the mountains. Their footsteps through out the ruin, bouncing off the walls and making them uneasy. "If no draugr were awake, they're awake now..." Vilkas mumbled as they continued to walk downward.

The continue on through the ruin, fighting their way through random spouts of draugr. Luckily some would stay docile, allowing them to be able to sneak passed them. Every time they did, Hope would get so nervous she would feel her heart just slam against her chest. At one time she even heard one suddenly make a small sound, making her nearly topple over but fortunately Vilkas was always there to catch her and keep her from falling to the ground while also keeping her from waking up all of the draugr...

"Will this place ever end?" Farkas sighed as he yanked his sword out of a draugr he just took down. Hope breathed hard as she wiped sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. She slowly walked to the closes wall and leaned on it, trying to take as much pressure off her legs she could. At the beginning of it, her legs were sore but they didn't hurt too bad. Now, she felt like she went on any longer with out some kind of break...she'd just pass out from the pain.

"Gods." She whispered as she leaned her hot forehead against the cold wall of the tunnels. Vilkas took notice to her heavy breathing and watched her with pinched eyebrows reach down and rub the side of one of her legs. He decided to walk over to her so that he could examine her a bit more and was shocked at what he saw.

He saw sweat form quickly on the top of her brow and drop down her face one after another. He noticed her breathing had yet to slow and the color in her face was beginning to fade. "Hey." He quickly placed a hand on her shoulder. Hope slowly looked at him with tired eyes. "What's going on?" Vilkas quickly asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hope replied as she brushed his hand off of her shoulder. "I'm just a little tired."

Vilkas quickly furrow his eyebrows. "You really think that I'm going to believe that?" He questioned, making Hope quickly look away from him. "It's your injuries, isn't it?" He asked and saw her jaw tense in response. "Gods." He sighed as he quickly took a step away from her.

"I knew it!" He said with his finger pointing towards Hope. "I knew you weren't ready for something like this!"

"Vilkas, I'm fine." Hope told him again. "I only need a little rest is all." She said as she slowly stepped back from the wall and the moment her foot slid back, a sharp pain shot up her leg, taking her back to when she was first injured. Her arms go in the air, trying to grab onto anything before she hit the ground but just like before, Vilkas was there to catch her.

He caught her under her arms and wrapped his arms around her tightly to keep himself from falling with her. He heard her hiss in pain as he slowly sat her down to the ground. "You're fine, huh?" Vilkas said with a sigh. "I..I just need some rest.." She told him again as she slowly scooted herself to the wall so that she had it to rest on. "No, you need to go back to Jorrvaskr." Vilkas told her.

"What?" Hope questioned with her eyebrows furrowed. "You heard me, you're going back. Farkas will take you back and I'll finish this."

"Ha! Like hell you are!" She shouted. "I'm not going back Vilkas and I am finishing this! You can't stop me!"

"Why are you so keen on doing this?! Just what is your reason for this? It's not like you have to do it!" He shouted back.

"But I do have to do it!"

"Why? Why do you have to do it!?"

"Uh..guys..." Farkas quietly cut in between them. "What!?" They both shouted at once as they both quickly glare at him, making him wince. "You uh..." He stops to clear his throat. "You both should probably quiet it down...unless you want the rest of the draugr in this place to come down on us at once..."

Vilkas and Hope both stare at him for a moment and then look at each other. The moment their eyes met, Hope quickly gave Vilkas a mean glare and then snapped her head away from him, making him quickly furrow his eyebrows down at her in response.

"Listen..." Farkas sighed as he approached them both. "I don't know if Hope really does need to go back to Jorrvaskr or not, but what I do know is that we need to rest."

"At least just for a few hours, because I don't know about you..but I am getting tired and fighting tired is almost as bad as fighting drunk..." He explained.

Vilkas sighed as he brought up a hand to his forehead, he slowly rubbed it as he pondered his thoughts for a good moment. "Alright." He sighed again. "We'll find something to build a small fire with and we'll take turns on getting some sleep." He said as he got up to his feet. "But if you're not better by the time we get up and moving again." He said with a finger quickly pointing down towards Hope. "You're going back to Jorrvaskr."

Hope didn't look at him but he could see her nose wrinkling in response to what he said. "I'll drag you back if I have to..." He mumbled as he walked away from her.

Farkas was the first to sleep and it wasn't long until they both started to hear him snore. Vilkas had first watch and was sitting in the doorway that led out of the changer with a small knife twirling in his fingers. Hope laid on her side facing the fire and she tried to close her eyes to sleep, but she just couldn't. Every time she heard a noise, even if it was small, she would jump awake, making her heart jump in her chest to. Gods, no way was she going to sleep in this place.

A deep sigh comes from her as she slowly sits up. Vilkas turns his head and watches her stretch her arms up in the air, unconsciously showing off the shape of her body. At least that's what Vilkas thought because only the back of her was facing him and when she stretched, he could see the perfect curve to her body and even some muscle in her arms flex. It was muscle she earned from training and he couldn't help but admire it.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked with his head leaning back against the stone door frame. "I can't sleep..." Hope told him as she slowly lowered her arms back down. Vilkas stared at her for a moment, watching the way the light from the small fire danced around her flame. "How are you feeling now?" He slowly asked.

Hope slightly turned her head to look at him and then looked down at her legs. "Better..." She told him, but was she telling the truth? "They're still a little sore but...they're okay..." She sounded a little bit more honest that time, but he still couldn't be sure.

"Want me to...look at them." He hesitantly asked. Hope quickly turned her head and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do you think they need to be checked?" She asked. "You never know." Vilkas shrugged. Hope pursed her lips together as she stared at Vilkas for a moment before looking back down at her legs. "I guess the bandages do probably need changing..." She mumbled.

"I can help if you need it." Vilkas offered. Hope looked back at him once more before giving him a slow nod. Vilkas quickly gets up and heads over to her, Hope points to her bag and Vilkas waist's no time picking it up. "I made sure to pack some extra bandages." She told him. "Smart thinking." Vilkas said as he sat down in front of her.

Hope slowly shifted around and stretched her legs out in front of him. Vilkas was about to take one in his hand until Hope stopped him. "Um..." He looks up at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm, um..I'm going to have to take my pants off so..if you could just..."

"Oh, right." Vilkas nodded before turning his head away from her. He couldn't help but feel a little strange from being so close to her as she removed apart of her armor. He could hear her struggle a little with the tight leather but it didn't take long for her to get them off.

"Okay..." She sighs. Vilkas slowly turns his head back towards her and sees that she had her pants gathered up in her lap so that the rest of her was hidden. _'Too bad.'_

Vilkas slowly picked up one of her legs and started to remove the wrapping. He saw from the bandages that her wounds hadn't opened back up so he hoped that, that meant her wounds didn't get infected again or worse.

Once he gets all of the old wrapping off, he carefully lifts her leg up a bit more and examines it carefully. The burns had scabbed up nicely and he saw that they were healing well, they were healing like they were supposed to. _'Thank the gods.'_

He slowly wrapped it up with new bandaging and then put it down to pick up the other leg. When he examined the wrapping of that one, he did see a little spotting of blood, but it didn't look too bad. "Looks like this one may have opened up a bit..." He told her as he slowly and carefully unwrapped the old bandaging.

Hope hissed and jolted her leg away when he pulled the wrapping off the part of the wound that had opened. The blood was already beginning to stick and had caused the bandaging to stick to it. "Sorry." Vilkas apologized as he carefully removed the rest of the wrap.

He then slowly tilted her leg so that he could see the opening of the would better and to his relief, it wasn't too bad. It was just something they were going to have to keep their eye on. "Hang on." Vilkas told her as he pulled his water-skin off his belt. He then grabbed a cloth from Hope's bag and dampened it a bit with his water. "Do you enough water to do that?" Hope asked with her eyebrows knit together with concern.

"Don't worry about it." Vilkas told her as he carefully placed the damp rag on her leg. She hissed again. "Sorry." Vilkas apologized again as he put just a little bit more pressure on that part of her wound. "I just want to keep it from getting infected." He explained.

Hope stared at him for a moment, watching him clean her wound with pinched eyebrows. Vilkas can feel her eyes and slightly looks up to meet them. "What?" He questioned. "It's just..." She trails off from her sentence, trying to think about what she wanted to say more and if she should say it at all. "It's just...you've done a lot to help me..."

"Why wouldn't I help you?" Vilkas questioned with his eyebrows furrowed. "You're..a fellow Companion, I don't wish to see any of you get harmed..." He spoke quietly as he slowly looked back down to her leg.

"So that's why you help me like you do? Because I'm a fellow Companion?" She's not sure why, but for some reason while she's asking Vilkas these sudden questions, she feels her heart beat increase and her chest tighten; and she doesn't know what it means...

Vilkas stays quiet, he stays quiet for too long in fact, making the feeling in Hope's chest grow and her heart hit the surface of her chest hard. But then, while slowly reaching for the wrapping he finally speaks. "It's because-" He stops, re thinking what he's wanting to say and gods Hope wished he wouldn't do that.

"I mean...just what kind of a man would I be if I didn't help you?" He finally said as he began to wrap her leg. Hope's heart dropped in her chest, that wasn't what she wanted to hear but then again, what exactly did she want to hear? Why did she even bring up such a question in the first place? What did she expect to get?

"I see." Hope sighed as she let her eyes drop to the floor. Vilkas paused and looked up at her for a moment, seeing the disappointment in her eyes and even hearing it in her voice. What did she want him say? Was she hoping for some kind of confession? Now? It was strange, the feeling that was rising in Vilkas's chest, it was a feeling he didn't expect to have at a time like this...

But gods, did he appreciate it and did he want to act on it. The look in her eyes was killing him and so was the feeling inside of him. But should he? He wasn't sure, gods he wanted to, but he wasn't sure. Was this the right time? Was this the right place? Is there really a right time and right place anymore with everything going on? _'Just do it.'_

Slowly, Vilkas slides his hand up from the bottom of her leg until it stops at the point her bottom was on the floor. A shocked gasp leaves Hope as she quickly looks back up and when she does, Vilkas is right there; on top of her with his icy blue eyes peering into hers. Warmth spreads up her cheeks and goose bumps right on her skin as she feels Vilkas move his hand from the top of her leg to the curve of her waist.

"Vi-Vilkas." Hope breathed as she continued to stare up at him with wide eyes. "You asked me why I help you so much, and you've asked me why I care..." He trails off and his voice is so deep it sends shivers down Hope's spine. She feels him slowly raise his hand from her waist to the side of her face and the moment his warm hand comes into contact with her cheek, she can't help but rest against it. Enjoying the way his fingers caressed her skin.

He looked down at her with such want and need in his eyes that another shiver was sent down her spine. She felt him slowly graze the bottom of her lip with his thumb before he moved his face down closer to hers. When the tips of their noses touched, hot breath spread across her face as Vilkas parted his lips.

Gods, she felt like she could hardly breath as she watched him get closer and then lost it completely when their lips finally met. The kiss, the kiss was so hot, so sweet, so desperate, and so tender, everything inside her just fell blank. Everything and anything that was in her mind before was now gone. The only thing she could think of was her own want and desperation, want for Vilkas and desperation to be with him.

Gods just how long has he been waiting for this? Just how long has he been going to bed with Hope, with Liah in his mind? Her lips were so soft, so sweet he just couldn't get enough of them. He moved his hand from the side of her face to the back of her head and even gripped her hair a bit so that he could keep her close and when he did, she moaned, taking them both by surprise.

"..Gods." He breathed before taking her lips with his again. He held her side tightly with one hand as he kept the other on the back of her head and with out thinking, he grabbed the pants she had been holding in her lap and threw them to the side before laying her down completely on the stone floor.

He felt her shiver when he started placing kisses on the side of her jaw and then heard her whimper as he kissed down her neck.

She felt the stubble decorating the bottom part of his face rub against her neck as he kissed her skin, but she didn't care. In fact, she even liked it. She gasps when she feels his hand move from her waist to her bottom and even jumps when she feels him give it a hard squeeze. Vilkas couldn't help but chuckle as he bites and sucks on a part of her neck. Then slowly he kisses back up her neck, to her ear. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time." He whispered huskily before biting and licking her ear.

Hope gives off another shiver as Vilkas sucks on the lobe of her ear before kissing his way back to her lips. He gives her a hard, tender kiss before slowly pulling away from her and looking into her beautiful emerald green eyes. He slowly rubs brings his hand from the back of her head to the side of her face before whispering. "You're so beautiful..."

A warm color slowly rises to Hope's cheeks as she stares back into his eyes, he slowly looks down to her lips and a red tint appear in them, an effect from all of the hard kissing they just did and seeing the color appear only made him want to her more. In fact, it made him want to do more than just kissing...something he'd been dreaming about but never would of admitted to dreaming.

Vilkas slowly slides his thumb across her lips before leaning down to claim them once more. This time when he kissed her, it was slow and passionate. It was also hot, which made him hot in his heavy steel armor. That was something he needed to take care.

He gave Hope one more deep kiss before slowly sitting up and reaching to the buckles of his armor. Hope watched with wide eyes, realizing just how fast and far this was going. She wanted to, gods knew she wanted to, but was she ready? The feeling spreading through out body, especially to her lower regions told her she was ready, but she still felt...afraid.

 _ **TAP! TAPTAPTAPTAP!**_ A sudden loud and strange noise appears, making them both jump and nearly have a heart attack. Hope quickly wraps her arms around Vilkas and hugs onto him tightly, fearing what it might be. "What was that!?" She said in a panicked whisper.

Vilkas quickly wrapped an arm around Hope and looked around. In the distance, near their weapons he saw some dust fall from the ceiling. He slowly followed it up to a crack that had formed and then looked back down to the stones on the ground that fell from it. He chuckled as he slowly removed his arm from Hope and laid her back down. "It's just the ruin settling, nothing to worry about." He told her in a whisper.

Hope sighed in relief as she closed her eyes, trying to get her heart to settle down. Her eyes opened back up when she felt Vilkas's fingers rub the side of her face. She looked into his eyes and saw that their little scare didn't change the mood for him at all.

She watched him slowly lean down towards her again for another kiss and she was just about to kiss him back until a loud snore interrupted them. Vilkas quickly looked over and saw his brother in deep sleep with his mouth even hanging open a little. "Gods." Vilkas sighed as he bowed his head a little. "I honestly forgot he was here..." He quietly laughed and Hope laughed with him.

Vilkas slowly looked back to Hope and stared into her eyes for a moment with his thumb caressing her cheek. "This really isn't the best place for this, is it?" He said with a soft smile. "Not really." Hope replied with her own smile. Vilkas continued to rub her cheek as he stared down at her for a moment longer. Then, he places one last kiss on her lips before getting up and scooting back off of her. "Gods." He sighed as he sat in front of her. "I didn't even finish wrapping up your leg." He said as he quickly reached for the bandages.

Hope couldn't help but laugh as she slowly sat up and watched him wrap up her leg. When he was finished, he stood to his feet, grabbed her pants and handed them to her. "You should really get some sleep..." He said quietly as he watched her slowly pull her pants up her legs.

Once she was finished, she turned her head and looked up at him with a look she'd never looked at him with before; and it was a look he wanted to see often. He slowly bent down and reached for her hand. He then brought it up to his face and placed a warm kiss on the top of it.

Hope's had many men do that to her before, it was always what they did when they first met her and it always gave her a feeling she didn't like, it was a feeling she had to grow used to. But when Vilkas did it, warmth spread through out body and had her feeling butterflies everywhere. The feelings he gave her when he did it...were ones she never wanted to stop feeling.

Vilkas placed one more kiss on it before letting it go and turning to walk back to his place. Hope slowly laid down on her side, facing Vilkas and watched him sit back down in the doorway. She couldn't help but let a smile show as she slowly closed her eyes and decided to actually try and get some sleep...

* * *

 **Gonna be honest with you guys..this part made me blush a lot xD (Hope you guys don't mind them spicy bits ;) )**


	50. Chapter 50

It was hard to sleep before, with the pain in her legs and with everything going on. But when Vilkas's watch ended and Farkas's watch began, it was now near impossible to get any sleep. Because not only was Vilkas laying only about a foot away from Hope, she also knew he wasn't sleeping either and the air between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

 _'Gods...'_ Hope quietly sighed as she laid on her side, with her back facing Vilkas. How long has she been laying awake now? How long has it felt like this since Vilkas came back over? She felt like it had been hours, she hoped it had been hours because then it would mean it was about time to continue what they were doing and...forget about what happened? No, she didn't want to forget about what happened between them.

She wanted to remember it, she wanted to remember the way she felt in that moment, and she wanted that feeling to overwhelm what she was feeling now...but it didn't. What exactly was it she was feeling? Could it be regret? No, it wasn't that, the beating of Hope's heart told her it wasn't that. So maybe it was fear...fear of how it was going to change things and fear of what was going to happen afterwords...

 _'Gods, was it too soon? Did we move too fast? What if Vilkas is regretting it right now? What if all of it was just...an impulsive decision?'_ Thoughts flooded her mind like rushing waters in a river and each time one would come, her chest would ache. It ached from the possibility of all of them being true...

Nearby shuffling has Hope's body going tense and it takes her a moment before she realizes that it's just Vilkas sitting up. She hears a sigh come from him as well as a groan from most likely an aching neck or back after laying on the cold hard ground for as long as they have.

"You up?" Farkas asked after hearing his brothers movements. "I never went to sleep..." Hope heard Vilkas mumble as she also heard him stand to his feet.

She could tell that he stretched from the satisfied sound he made and then heard him make his way towards her. _'Oh no!'_ Without thinking, Hope quickly shuts her eyes and forces herself to relax so that he would think she was asleep when he reached her.

Vilkas knelt over Hope and examined her face, he could tell she was faking, she was so nervous it made him feel nervous. But he went along with it anyways, he didn't want to make it more uncomfortable than it already was...

"Hey." He whispered as he lightly touched her shoulder. Hope slowly opened her eyes, trying to play it off the best she could. She then slowly looked up at Vilkas and immediately felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. "How do you feel?" He asked with a slight smile, doing his best to try and make her feel better.

"Oh, I'm feeling much better." She lied as she slowly sat up. Honestly, she felt about the same since they started to rest and it was probably because she never got any rest like she was supposed to...but she played it off the best she could...

Vilkas examined her for a moment, reading her eyes and seeing right through the mask she was trying to put on. But he didn't bring it up, as much as he wanted to, he didn't. "Let me look at your legs, just to make sure." He said.

"Oh no! That's alright!" Hope quickly said in a higher pitched tone than she meant...

Vilkas quickly looks at her with a cocked eyebrow. "They're feeling much better! I can take on a whole herd of draugr if I have to!" She laughed strange as she quickly got to her feet..well as quick as she could. The leg that had opened back up a little was feeling sore, but she could deal with it. She had to, because despite how much Vilkas wanted her not to, she had to finish this. She just **had** to...

Vilkas pursed his lips together as he examined Hope's face carefully, he couldn't tell if she was acting nervous because she was lying or if it was because of what happened just a few hours ago...

"Well..." Vilkas sighed as he slowly got back up to his feet. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Hope nodded. Vilkas stares at her for a moment, examining her face and the look in her eyes. He was trying to get a real sense of how she was feeling...he wanted to know how she felt about what happened because honestly...Vilkas was unsure of how he felt about what happened...

As Vilkas stares at her, Hope finds her eyes meeting his. She feels her stomach turn and her heart race in her chest as she see's a few emotions reveal themselves in his eyes. She tried to make out what they were but the panic inside her made that impossible because her mind always went to the worst guess. _'Gods...is this how it's going to feel through out the rest of this job?'_ She wondered as the air between them quickly became...intense? Uncomfortable? Gods she didn't know and she didn't need this on her mind right now...

Farkas uncomfortably clears his throat, making both Hope and Vilkas look at him. "You uh...you guys ready to get going?" He asked, sensing the strange tension in the air that had suddenly appeared.

"Yeah." Vilkas told him as he turned and walked away from Hope. He walked over to where their weapons were laying and picked up his great-sword. Hope followed behind him and picked up her bow and arrows. They all take a few drinks out of their water-skins before finally continuing on down the ruin.

The corridors they walk through were wide but twisted into way too many turns, making the three Companions very uncomfortable. Hope tapped her fingers on the sides of her legs as she walked behind Vilkas and Farkas, trying to keep her mind off the possibilities of what could be around every corner while also trying to keep her guard up; and...she wasn't doing too well.

Each turn would raise a question in her head. _Is there going to be more draugr? If so than how many? Will I be able to fight more than two draugr at once?...what's going to happen between me and Vilkas after this over?_ Each question was worse than the last and each question only made her feel worse. _'Come on Liah.'_ She tells herself. _'Get yourself together, only focus on what's a head of you...'_

As they walk, Hope can hear small water drops hitting the floor somewhere in the distance and it takes her a good while until she realizes that the sounds were starting to echo. That's when she feels dirt move beneath her feet instead of rubble from a broken floor. She stops and looks down, surprised to see that now beneath her was a cave floor.

She quickly looks up at the stalactite's hanging above their heads. "Something the matter?" Vilkas asked as he and Farkas both noticed her stop walking. "We're in a cave..." Hope muttered under her breath as she started to look around at the cave walls.

"Has the ruin ended? Have we gone too far and missed something?" Hope asked as she quickly turned and looked at the tunnels behind her. "No, at least I don't think so." Farkas answered. "This ruin is pretty big and I imagine there is still more of it passed this small cave passageway." He explained.

"I imagine the ancient Nords came across caves like this many times when they decided to build their cities inside the mountains." Vilkas said with a bit of amusement to his voice. Hope sighed as she slowly turned back around and looked on a head. "We still have a ways to go, don't we?" She sighed again. "Most likely." Farkas nodded.

"Why? Are you legs bothering you?" Vilkas quickly asked. "No." Hope told him with furrowed eyebrows. "They feel fine, I feel fine. I just..." She stops to sigh. "I just want to get this done." She mumbled as she quickly walked passed the two brothers. They both watch her walk away for a moment before following after her.

Gods, why would the ancient Nords build a place this big? Just what was that important to hide? Hope sighs again deeply and it was probably her tenth sigh within the hour. She knew it was beginning to bug Vilkas because she could see him slightly look back at her everytime she did it, but she didn't care. She was sick of this place, sick of all the turns, sick of all the draugr, and especially sick of the smell.

She couldn't see herself, but she knew she must of looked horrible. They had just gotten done fighting a few draugr in a small chamber and normally their bodies are so weak and dry that not a thing comes out of them but bone dust. But for some reason, when she stuck her sword in the last draugr, some kind of...black juice came from its guts and splattered all over her. "AGH!" Is what she yelled when it happened and when she did yell...more draugr came running into the small chamber they were already fighting in.

Honestly, when they entered the strange cave passage an hour ago, she hoped that it meant they were close. Despite the other two telling her they weren't...well they were right and she hated it. "Gods." Hope said in disgust as she tried to wipe off the now dried black liquid on her armor. "Never saw one that juicy before." Vilkas chuckled. "Ugh!" Hope exclaimed in disgust. "Don't say something like that!"

"Wish it came off easier because now you stink." Farkas commented as he walked way a head of them. Hope quickly shot him a glare and she knew he could feel it because of the shiver he gave off. She didn't find what they were saying funny, in fact if either of them say anything else about it, she just might shoot them in the boot with an arrow...

They walked down a long (and thankfully straight) tunnel that was barely being held up by a cracked ceiling and falling apart wall. In some places of the wall, Hope could actually see the wooden beams holding up giant rocks in the mountain beneath the crumbling ceiling, she could also see cracks forming in those wooden beams and knew that it wouldn't take much to make them fall apart and have the mountain itself crashing down on top of them.

"Hey." Farkas quickly stopped, making both Hope and Vilkas come to a stop. They look at him with furrowed eyebrows and then look a head to see what he was looking at. "A door?" Hope questioned with her eyes squinting. "Finally." Vilkas sighed as they continued to walk through the unstable tunnel.

Vilkas grabbed both the handles on the rotten wooden doors and pulled them open with more strength than he thought he needed, they were so rotten and rusty they were sticking together. When they did finally open, pieces of them quickly fell apart, leaving the doors nothing but rotten wood hanging loosely on rusty iron hinges.

Behind the old rotten doors, was a short tunnel and at the end of the tunnel was a strange looking door. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down as they walked down the tunnel and approached the unusual door. "Never seen this before." Farkas said as he ran his hand across the carvings on the door.

Hope examined it closely, moving her eyes from the strange curved carvings to the very bottom of the door. She looked back up to the carvings and noticed how they looked like they could move. She slowly reached up and pushed in one of the curving parts and the moment she did it moved inward and even started to turn a little.

She slowly took her hand away from the door and quickly got out the gold claw from her bag. She unwrapped the cloth around it and examined the carvings on it. She looked up from the claw to the door repeatedly before reaching up and spinning the carvings to the right order. Vilkas and Farkas both watched and then jumped when the door clicked and started to slowly move downwards.

As the door slides down, dust is scattered into the air, causing the three Companions to cough and quickly wave their hands in front of them, desperately trying to get rid of the dirt and dust as fast as they could. Then, the moment the door is out of the way and the dust has cleared, their jaws drop and their eyes widen.

In front of them now, was a large cavern that in the very far end of the room, had a small waterfall rushing out of the ceiling and into a small stream that it had formed years ago. A cold wind hit them the moment they stepped into the cavern then a few bats flew about before flying out of a large hole in the ceiling.

Hope walked a head of the other two and looked up at the cave ceiling, spotting a few stars and a hint of the moon through the many holes that littered it. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the fresh air that seeped through the holes. It was a nice change from the smell of death and moss that reeked through the musty ruin.

As she lost herself in that small moment, something inside her begun to stir. She slowly opened her eyes as everything around her started to slow down and turn into a blur. The many noises around her faded away and was replaced with something she's heard before...but for some reason...she couldn't recall what it was. She only looked forward with her eyes landing on a familiar structure, that was littered with all kinds of carvings. _'I've seen something like that before...'_ She thought to herself, but that thought immediately went to the back of her mind because now she was walking towards it.

Something inside her was pulling her towards it and she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. "Hope?" She could hear Vilkas call her name but his voice was quickly drowned out into nothing more but a distant echo. She felt herself walk up a small set of stairs and then before she knew it, she was right in front of the structure with her hand reaching out towards a single word. _'A word?'_ She questioned herself but just like before, that thought immediately disappeared, forcing her to focus only on what was in front of her; and in front of her was stars.

At least they looked like stars, stars scattering as the carving before her glowed brighter than the sun. Soon her vision blackens and all she can see is that single word, but what is it? What does it say? "Fus..." She felt her lips move but didn't hear herself talk. Although the word moved through her and it fell off her lips like she knew it..it still felt off...it felt...incomplete?

"Hope!" Vilkas's loud voice quickly knocks her out of it and has retracting her hand away from the wall. A sudden pain shoots through her head and its so great it causes her to stumble back away from the wall with both hands holding the sides of her head. Vilkas quickly placed two hands on her shoulders to keep her from falling and watched her bend over in pain with his eyebrows pinching together in worry.

"Are you alright? What just happened?" He questioned quickly. "I..I don't know..." Hope told him as she slowly stood back up straight with her fingers rubbing the side's of her head. She slowly turned her head towards Farkas and Vilkas, and saw them both look at her with worry spilling from their eyes. "What..what did you guys see?" She asked, assuming they saw what she did.

"Only you suddenly walking off to that wall." Vilkas told her with his eyes quickly glancing to the structure behind her. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him. "That's it? You didn't see anything weird?" She questioned. "The only weird thing we saw, was you." Farkas answered this time. "It was almost like what happened back in Dustman's Cairn, just like then, you fell into some kind of trance...and just walked away from us with out saying a word."

"Wait." Vilkas quickly looks at his brother. "This has happened before?" He questioned. "Yeah, this has happened before?" Hope also questioned, still not being able to recall that happened even though it did feel...scary familiar.

"It did." Farkas sighed. "You acted like nothing happened, so I just assumed nothing did happen...until now."

Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him before quickly turning back to the wall. She examined the carving that glowed just moments ago, but now it was nothing but a worn down shallow engraving. "So you guys really didn't see it..." She muttered under her breath. "See what?" Vilkas quickly questioned, obviously getting irritated and impatient about the whole thing.

Hope turned and looked back at him. She opened her mouth to speak more, but a loud sound stopped her and made her nearly jump right out of her skin.

 _ **SSSSSRRRRRRRR!**_ The loud noise sent shivers down Hope's spine because she knew only one thing that it could come from...and that was a stone coffin. They all slowly turn towards a large dark coffin and watched with wide eyes as the lid slowly slid off. Hope's heart stopped for a moment when she saw bony fingers gripping the edge of the coffin's top.

It was a draugr, **just** a draugr; and only one at that. But for some reason, she felt different towards this one, she felt...disturbed? Afraid? She didn't know and she didn't like it. "It's just a draugr..." Vilkas sighed as he slowly got out his great-sword. "I'll take care of it." He told them as he started to approach the coffin.

Hope watched with wide eyes as the draugr slowly stepped out of its resting place and then give a mean glare towards her. Not at Vilkas, not at the one coming for it with his sword drawn, it's deadly glare was aimed for her. She watched it's chest slowly rise and right then and there, something inside Hope snapped, because she knew what was coming next. "VILKAS WAIT!" She screamed, but it was too late.

 _ **FUS RO DAH!**_ A thunderous wave exploded from it, sending a force so great and so heavy, that not even Vilkas could withstand it. It sent him flying back as well as Farkas, Hope quickly ducked down, expecting the same to happen to her; but when its power moves through her and washes over her, she doesn't move. It does nothing to her like Dustman's cairn, but send chills through out her body and cause adrenaline to surge through her veins.

Her eyes widen as she quickly looks up at the draugr and the moment she does, it's charging right for her with its giant war-axe held high in the air. Hope gasps and quickly jumps back from its massive attacks. She then has to duck a swing from it's axe and then leap over a low swing from it's axe. Farkas and Vilkas immediately come to her mind because she can't hear them move and she can't look at them because she can't afford to take her eyes off the draugr wishing to take her head off.

She quickly dodges to the side and then takes out her own sword. she's able to block its next attack even though it does a toll on her arms. The sword she had was small and the axe it had was nearly as big as Vilkas's great-sword. So she needed to be fast, she needed to be faster than it's axe.

The moment it swings its axe back for another attack, Hope quickly ducks down and chops into it's leg with her sword, causing it to fall down to the side. The moment it's on the ground she stomps her foot down hard on the brittle leg she just chopped into so that it could no longer walk.

She breathed hard as she slowly made her way around to its head. She readied herself to plunge her sword into it's skull, but she stopped in mid-air. She stopped because it had suddenly looked up at her and looked right into her eyes, sending a wave of feelings she felt once before when she was in Dustman's Cairn; and just like before in Dustman's Cairn, familiar words spilled from its mouth.

"Mindok Kruziik Al Alok." It's voice was deep, so deep Hope could feel it rumble beneath her feet. She stared at it with her mouth agape and her eyes wide. _'And there's nothing you can do about it...'_ She heard it's voice, it's horrifying voice but only in her head, because it's mouth was no longer moving. Hope's chest tightened as panic started to suddenly set in. Before she could lose herself to her unknown fear, she quickly plunges her blade into the draugr's skull, immediately ending it's life.

She shakes and she trembles as she remains on her knee with her hand still tightly wrapped around the handle of her sword. She looks down at the lifeless draugr with wide eyes. _'Why...why did that happen? Why did it speak to me like that? Why did it speak to me in general!'_ Her breath quickened as did her heart in her chest. _'And there's nothing you can do about it...'_ Just what did it mean by that? And why...why did she feel so afraid?

A low groan knocks Hope out of her panicked thoughts. She quickly gets up and spins around, finding Vilkas and Farkas both slowly coming back into consciousness. "You guys okay!?" She asked as she hurriedly made her way down towards them. "Yeah..." Vilkas replied painfully as he rubbed his head.

Hope quickly got down next to him and helped him sit up and then did the same for Farkas. "Are you okay Hope?" Farkas asked with pain showing in his voice. "You didn't get hit too hard, did you?" He asked with his eyes examining her. "No...I..." She trails off, trying to find an explanation to why what it did didn't effect her. But she couldn't find one...because she didn't know... "It missed me." She told him as she stood back up to her feet.

"So you killed it then?" Vilkas asked as he looked over to its lifeless body. "Yeah..." Hope said with her eyes slowly trailing down. "Gods..." Farkas groaned as he slowly got up to his feet. "Should of guessed a draugr like that would've been in here..." He sighed as he rubbed a forming bump on the back of his head.

"The important thing is that it's dead...and that this looks like the end of the ruin." Vilkas said as he started to slowly walk up the small steps that led to the draugr's coffin. "So you think the tablet is in here somewhere?" Hope asked excitingly. "It should be.." Vilkas said as he began to look around. "A draugr like that wouldn't be in here for nothing." Farkas said this time as he approached the open coffin and looked inside it.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, making Vilkas and Hope both run over to him. "I bet this is it right here!" He said with a bit of a smile as he pulled out a great stone tablet. "Thank the gods." Vilkas sighed as he examined it in Farkas's hands. Hope stared at it for a moment before slowly taking it from Farkas and examining it.

On it were strange...markers? Maybe even some strange language and carvings. All things she couldn't make out.. "I wish I could read this..." She sighed with a frown taking form on her face. "Not what you hoped for?" Vilkas asked. "I'm not really sure what I hoped for..." Hope mumbled as she carefully placed the stone tablet in her bag. She didn't know what to expect it to be when she found it, but she did hope a little that she would get some answers, but in the end of their very long journey...she was only left with more questions than answers...


	51. Chapter 51

Fresh air, Gods, fresh air! Hope felt like it had been ages since she's last taken a breath of Skyrim's fresh, cold air. She breathed in deep and didn't stop until her lungs started to sting. She slowly released the air from her lungs and then deeply sighed in relief. "Careful on the way down." Farkas said, bringing Hope out of it. She slowly opens her eyes and looks to him. She watches him and Vilkas both slowly climb down the side of a ledge.

After they retrieved the tablet they were sent for, Farkas found a door that led them out to what seemed like the back of a mountain and Hope was ever so glad that he did; because walking back all the way through the ruin, was not something she wanted to do.

Hope slowly followed behind Vilkas as they made their way down the rest of the mountain. Towards the end they came to a small ledge, but it wasn't too far from the ground so they were able to just jump right off it. "Didn't realize it was this late..." Farkas commented as he looked up at the starry sky. "That ruin was a big one." Vilkas said as he walked towards a river that was a short distance away.

Hope watched him kneel down in front of the river and quickly scoop up a handful of water to splash on his dirty face. He sighed in relief as he washed off all the dirt and dust off his skin, the cold water also felt good. "How far do you think we're from Whiterun?" Hope asked, making Vilkas look up from the river and turn to look at her. He looks at her for a minute before slowly getting up and looking around at their surroundings.

"I'm not sure..." He told her. "But I'm sure we can find a road nearby along with some signs to tells us where we are."

"Right..." Hope sighed as she started to look around for a quick way around the mountain. "This way looks promising." Farkas said with his finger pointing right of the mountain. "It's good enough for me." Vilkas sighed as he went a head and started walking. Farkas and Hope both quickly follow after him.

It took them a good awhile to make it around the mountain but once they did and once they found a road, they knew where to go. "It seems we're about a couple hours away from Whiterun." Vilkas said as he and Farkas walked side by side a head of Hope. She started to lag behind them due to pain and exhaustion about thirty-minutes ago, but didn't say anything about it.

She knew if she said anything or even showed any kind of distress, Vilkas would want to stop and she didn't want that. She just wanted to get back to Whiterun and put this whole mess behind her. _'If only it would be that easy.'_ And she had a feeling it would never be that easy...

"Hey, how are you holding up back there?" Farkas suddenly asked with his head slightly turned towards her as they walked. "I'm fine." Hope answered, hiding her tired pants as best she could. "You sure? You're lagging behind." Farkas pointed out. "I'm fine, Farkas." Hope snapped with out thinking, making his eyebrows shoot and Vilkas turn his head towards her. _'Great.'_ She sighs. All she wants is to be left alone with her thoughts until they reached Whiterun, was that so much to ask for?

"Maybe we should take a small break." Vilkas suggested but Hope quickly objected. "No! Let's just get back to Whiterun, okay?"

Vilkas stopped and furrowed his eyebrows down at her. She stopped about a foot away from him and furrowed her eyebrows right back at him. Farkas moved his eyes from Vilkas and then to Hope, not sure of what to do...

"Why? You're obviously tired." Vilkas stated. "Of course I'm tired." She admitted. "But I don't want to stop, the quicker we get back the better."

Vilkas stared at her for a moment, examining her from her face to her shaky legs. "How are your injuries?" He asked and quickly received an annoyed groan in response from Hope. "I'm not going to answer that." She said as she quickly walked passed him and Farkas. "If you guys want to take a break, then take a break. I'm going back to Whiterun."

Vilkas and Farkas both watched her with their eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "What's her problem?" Farkas questioned. "Who knows..." Vilkas sighed as he started to follow after her with Farkas walking right by his side.

Finally, after endless walking and looks from Vilkas, they reach Whiterun. Hope couldn't be more than relieved when they saw the great city in the distance. In fact she was practically running down the road when she saw it. Gods, finally, she was ready to be back and for this to be over.

"We should probably wait until daylight to give that tablet to the Jarl." Farkas pointed out. "Sounds good to me." Hope quickly replied as she pushed open the gates to Whiterun as fast as she could. "Slow down, you're going to hurt yourself." Vilkas stated as she rushed through the open gates. She didn't care if she hurt herself, all she cared about was reaching Jorrvaskr and laying down on her not-so-comfortable bed.

So, she rushes through the empty streets and then through the marketplace. After the marketplace she practically jumps up the steps and then rushes over to the stairs that lead up to Jorrvaskr. When she begins to walk up the stairs and reach the top, she doesn't realize that she was going so fast she's left Farkas and Vilkas behind.

She breaths hard as she walks up to the two wooden doors leading inside Jorrvaskr. Before she opens them, she takes a minute to catch her breath. "Gods..." She breathed as she wiped the sweat off her brow. "Finally home..." She sighed as she reached for the door handle and opened it.

The warmth and scent of Jorrvaskr's hall hit Hope like a warm breeze. She took a moment, standing in the doorway and breathing in Jorrvaskr's sweet scent. She sighed a relieved sigh as a smile slowly spread across her lips. "Thanks for leaving us behind." She jumps at Vilkas's annoyed voice and slightly looks at him over her shoulder.

"Sorry." She apologized with a small smile. "I was just really tired and ready to be back." She told him with another sigh as she walked into the warm building with Farkas and Vilkas behind her. "Oh yeah, me too." Farkas said in a groan as he stretched his arms out as far as he could. Vilkas also couldn't help but admit that he was glad to be back too, he was tired and ready for his soft bed and warm covers. He was also ready for this whole mess with the Jarl to be done with and things go back to normal. _'If they even can.'_ He sighed as his thoughts went back to that small moment he shared with Hope in the ruins.

He didn't regret it, gods no it was a long time coming. But he was worried that he may have acted too fast and scared Hope with his actions. He was afraid that he may have pushed her away instead of pulling her closer like he had hoped he would...

 _'Don't think about that now.'_ He told himself as he and Farkas followed Hope down the stairs. _'Just go get some real sleep, that's something to deal with after...'_

With out saying anything, Hope goes straight into the sleeping quarters. Farkas continues to walk down the hall towards his room while Vilkas stops for a moment, watching Hope settle into the quarters. He thought about popping in and talking to her, but he didn't want to disturb any of the sleeping Companions. At least that was the excuse he was going with because really he just didn't know what to do or what he would say once he was in there. So with a sigh, Vilkas turns and continues to walk down the hall towards his room.

Hope sneaks into the quarters quietly, completely oblivious to what Vilkas was doing. She was surprised to see it mostly empty. She looked around and at the very end of the room away from her bed was Torvrar and he seemed completely out of it. _'The rest must be doing some jobs or something...'_ She thought to herself as she slowly placed her things down on the floor next to her bed.

She let out a soft sigh as she slowly took off her messy armor. After she peeled the last piece off her sweaty skin, she slowly slips a simple dress on over her undergarments. Gods, it felt good to be in normal clothing and not armor that was splattered with...draugr stuff...

Now, with more comfortable clothing on, Hope plops down onto her bed and lets another sigh of relief escape. Her bed was never comfortable but it was at least more comfortable than the floor of a dusty ruin. She stared up at the ceiling for a good moment, allowing her exhaustion to take over so that she could maybe force herself to fall asleep. But she couldn't, no matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn't. Not with so many things still plaguing her mind.

She agreed to fulfill the Jarl's request in hopes of getting some answers, but in the end she was left with more questions than answers...Hope slowly turns her head and looks down at the bag that held the ancient stone tablet.

She slowly sits up in her bed and reaches down for her bag. She sits her bag on her lap and carefully pulls the wrapped tablet out of it. She throws her bag to the floor and unwraps the tablet, examining it. She carefully looks over the strange carvings and markers on it, to the writing on it that were on all of it's sides. She slowly runs a finger across the carvings, trying her hardest to understand what they mean; but she can't and it seemed the longer she stared at it the more her head would begin to hurt.

Vilkas lets out a puff of air as he lands on his back onto his bed. He lays there for a bit with one arm behind his head and the other resting on his forehead. His mind instantly takes him back to the moment he shared with Hope. It was a small moment...but it was a moment non-the-less and gods...did he enjoy it... He enjoyed the small sounds she would make at every movement he did, he enjoyed the feeling of her hair between his fingers and he could just drown in the fullness of her lips...

Vilkas has to quickly force himself out of the memory or else it might take his mind else where... He sighs as he sits up in his bed and runs a hand through his messy hair, although he changed out of his armor, he still had yet to brush his hair and he didn't really care to. He was just tired...but couldn't sleep. He couldn't sleep with another thought plaguing his mind..it was Hope. It was how she acted afterwords, it made him think she was...afraid? Nervous? Or maybe she just wasn't ready and he forced those things on her...

 _'No, gods no.'_ He couldn't take it if that were true...but what if it was true? What if his own lust made him blind to how she was actually feeling? What if the noises she made were really objections against him and the beast inside made him deaf to them?

Quickly, Vilkas stands from his bed and is out his door. The thought that Hope could be sleeping doesn't even cross his mind, because he needs to know. He needs to know how she felt and if...he forced any of it on her or not.

When he comes near to the quarters, he slows down and even hesitates to walk in. His heart is beating hard against his chest, so hard he was worried that the others would hear it and wake up. But to his surprise when we walks in, hardly any of the Companions were there and Hope was wide awake.

She either must of heard him or sensed him because the moment he stepped through the doorway, she quickly looked up. "Oh." She exclaimed, surprised to suddenly see him. He watches her quickly put the stone tablet down beside her and then look back up at him. "Vilkas, I thought you'd be asleep right now." She said with a small smile.

"I thought you would be too..." Vilkas said, continuing to stand near the doorway in an awkward manner. "Uhm..." Hope clears her throat. "No, I uh I couldn't sleep..."

"Too much on your mind?" Vilkas asked.

"Kinda." She replied with a small smile.

Vilkas looked down towards the stone tablet and stared at it for a moment before looking back up at her. "Still trying to find answers?" He asked. "Kinda..." Hope replied again as she slowly looked down to the side with her hands tangling together in her lap. Vilkas stared at her for a moment, allowing the tension in the air between them to rise. He wasn't quite sure on how to begin the conversation he wanted to have...so he just winged it.

"I uh..." He trails off to collect his words. Hope looks back up at him with her eyebrows knit together. "I uh think we should talk...about..." He clears his throat and looks away. "About..you know..."

Hope's body quickly becomes tense as a warm color appears in her cheeks. "O-oh..." She stutters, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Vilkas looks back at her and watches her eyes shift around the room as well as hear her heart beat increase. With a sigh, he walks over to her bed and takes a seat next to her, making her tense even more. "I just..." He sighs again with his hand running through his hair. "I just need to make sure that I...didn't force any of it on you..."

Hope quickly looks at him with her eyebrows knit together again. "You're worried you forced yourself on me?" She questioned. Vilkas sheepishly nodded with his eyes on the floor. "Well...you didn't..." Hope told him with her own eyes slowly looking down at her lap. Vilkas looks back up at her and examines the shy, but embarrassed expression on her face.

"I've actually..." She trails off to swallow a hard lump down in her throat. "I've actually kind of wanted something like that to happen for a while now..." She admitted with the color in her cheeks brightening.

Vilkas's eyebrows shot up, he wasn't expecting such a confession from her. He was glad to hear it thought, just didn't expect it...

"Really?" Vilkas said with a bit amusement showing in his voice. Hope quickly catches on to it and looks up at him with a glare. "Don't act surprised!" She slightly shouted, she knew she wasn't going to wake up Torvrar, nothing could wake him up...

"By the way you were acting it seemed like it was something you've wanted to do too!" She accused with a finger pointing at him. A laugh erupted from Vilkas as he grabbed the hand she was pointing at him with and pulled her closer to him. Hope's eyes widened when his other hand landed on the small of her back and held her close to him. "I know..." He chuckled again as he looked down into her eyes. "I just never thought a girl as innocent as you would think of such things." He said with a half-grin.

Hope quickly scoffs as she tries to push him away but he doesn't let her. Not this time. He holds her tighter and closer this time. She looks up at him again with her eyes shy and wide. Vilkas slowly lifts a hand up to the side of her face and runs the back of it along her jaw line, sending shivers through out her body.

Vilkas leans down and doesn't stop until their lips are nearly touching. "Maybe we should continue where we left off then..." He whispered as he placed his hand on the back of her head. Hope's body shivers again, sending an unfamiliar feeling through out her insides. She looks up at him and watches the want appear in his eyes as she started to feel her own want inside...

Gods she wanted to...at least she thought she did because now mixed in with her want for him, is a bit of fear. Fear she felt in that small moment they shared...

Slowly Vilkas lowers his face down and takes her lips with his, and she relishes in it. His lips completely dominated hers and she loved it. She loved the way he made her feel when they kissed, she loved the way he touched her and the way his embrace made her warm...

But no matter how much loved the feelings he sent through her nor how much she loved being close to him...nothing he did could make her forget the things that were happening around them...things that should..be the priority..

Gods, it took all of her strength to pull herself away from him. Vilkas slowly opened his eyes and looked at her with eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "I don't think now's the best time for this..." Hope sighed as she placed a hand on his chest. "Is it because of Torvrar over there?" Vilkas asked, making Hope chuckle a little. "No, I know nothing could wake him up..it's just..." She slowly turns her head and looks down towards the stone tablet.

Vilkas nods, understanding what she was talking about. A lot has happened in the last small amount of days and more was to surly come, no one knew what was going to happen after they deliver the stone to the Jarl or how they were going to be involved. So although he hated it, he knew she wanted everything to be figured out and she wanted time before...

Hope slowly looks back at him with an apologetic look in her eyes but he quickly makes it disappear when he places a gentle hand on the side of her face. "It's okay." He told her in a whisper. "You're right..." He sighed. Hope gave him another apologetic look before he leaned in and placed a warm kiss on her forehead. He looked back into her eyes and just had to get lost in them once more before he completely pulled away from her and stood up from her bed.

Hope watched with a small frown but Vilkas quickly leaned down and kissed it away. "There will always be time after..." He told her as he pulled away from the kiss. Hope gave him a small smile in return and watched him back away towards the doorway. "Goodnight." He said. "Goodnight." Hope replied and then quickly after, Vilkas was gone..and she missed him already.

 _'Gods.'_ She sighed as she looked back down towards the stone tablet. _'I can't look at this thing anymore...I've got to try and get some real sleep...'_ She decided as she quickly wrapped the tablet back in its cloth and then set it underneath her bed.

She slowly got underneath her covers and laid on her side with her eyes glued to the wall. Though it took hourse, they did finally shut and she did finally sleep; And she dreamed while she slept..she dreamed of fire and chaos...


	52. Chapter 52

Hope wakes up the next day as tired as she was when she fell asleep. The dreams she had kept her from getting any restful sleep at all and for some odd reason, as intense as they were, she couldn't remember them to save her life. She tried, she tried to remember them to figure out why they kept her from resting, but she couldn't.

A tired sigh leaves her as she finished pulling on her boots. She woke up early and decided to wash off her armor the best she could with what was near her, and that was a bowl and pitcher full of water, so one could only guess how clean she actually got her armor...

Hope slowly stands from her bed and grabs the wrapped tablet as well as her bag, she places the tablet in the bag and then ties her bag to her back. "Heading for Dragonsreach already?" A familiar voice asked from behind. Hope turned and saw Vilkas leaning against the door frame. "Yeah, I just want to get it over with." She sighed as she approached him. "Care if I come with you?" He asked with a bit of a smile on his face.

Hope stared at him for a moment, before returning the smile and looking down a bit shy. "You can come if you want." She said with color appearing in her cheeks. Vilkas couldn't help but smile as he placed a finger beneath her chin and raised her face up so that their eyes could meet. Butterflies fluttered through out Hope as she stared up into Vilkas's icy colored eyes.

"Gods, get a damn room." Torvrar's gruff voice had them both tensing and cringing. He was just climbing out of bed when he looked over and spotted them making lovey-dove faces at each other. He slowly gets up from his bed and stretches his arms out with a loud groan. "Wondered when you two would finally bed together." He said with a laugh as he walks past them. Vilkas sighs as Hope quickly covers her face, hiding her embarrassment and red cheeks. _'Gods..now people are going to talk and we haven't even done anything...'_

On their way out of Jorrvaskr, Hope and Vilkas grab a couple of sweet tarts before heading out the door. When they stepped outside, Hope saw that Ria had returned with Njada and it looked like it wasn't too long ago when they did. Her eyes met theirs for a quick second, but after remembering the incident between her and Njada, Hope quickly averts her eyes away from them and is too ashamed to look at them. Seems Njada felt the same way too, because the moment Hope looked away, she did as well.

Hope and Vilkas walk the rest of the way to Dragons reach in either silence or small talk, even though they seemed closer now...they still had no idea what to say to each other at the moment.

Vilkas pulls open one of the giant wooden doors to the palace and holds it to let Hope walk in first. He quickly catches up to her inside and follows her up the small set of stairs that led to the throne. Hope quickly stops near the tables and furrows her eyebrows down. "The Jarl isn't there." She pointed out. "Maybe he's still asleep." Vilkas assumed. _'Didn't take the Jarl to be an over sleeper...'_ Hope thought to herself with her lips pursed together.

"I guess we can just go give it to the court wizard..." Hope said as she turned and headed for the court wizard's study. Vilkas followed close behind as they approached the study, they were then quickly stopped in the door way at the sight of a stranger talking to Farengar.

"So your theories were correct after all." Farengar said as he and the stranger were both hunched over an open book on his desk. "I wouldn't bring anything to light like that without proof backing it up..." The stranger told him as she peeked out from her hood to look at him. "Of course..." Farengar nervously nodded.

"So tell me." She sighed. "Any news on the stone tablet?"

"Oh yes, the Jarl has finally taken our studies of dragons seriously and has sent someone to retrieve it." He told her as he slowly stood up from his desk. "In fact...she should be back with it by now..." He mumbled.

Hope tensed the moment he mentioned her and quickly stepped more into the room, causing the stranger to quickly look up at her. "Is this her?" The stranger quickly asked. "Hm?" Farengar looks up and is surprised to see Hope, but also glad. "Ah, yes! This is she!" Farengar quickly walked around his desk and to Hope. "Do you have it? Do you have the dragon stone?" He asked with his voice full of excitement.

Hope slowly nods and then takes her bag off to dig through it. Farengar watches her closely as she shuffles through her bag and then slowly pull out the covered stone. "By the gods, there it is." Farengar breathed. He slowly took it from Hope and unwrapped the cloth around it as he made his way back around his desk. "Once again..." He smiled. "You were right." He said with his eyes going back to the stranger.

The stranger crossed her arms and even looked a little pleased as she examined the stone in Farengar's hands. "So, you went into Bleakfalls Burrow and retrieved the stone." She turns her head towards Hope and examines her for a moment before speaking again. "Good work." Was all she said as she continued to examine Hope, making her squirm a bit.

"Was that all you needed from us?" Vilkas spoke up, making Hope slightly jump-she kinda forgot he was behind her...

"I think so." Farengar nodded as he looked back down at the stone tablet. "Farengar, once you've deciphered the stone, I want a full copy of it." The stranger quickly said. "Of course! If it wasn't for you we wouldn't of-"

Suddenly, he's cut off by a loud ruckus outside the study. Including the stranger, they all quickly look to the doorway and watch several soldiers running by with Irileth running behind them. She passes the study but then quickly retracts her footsteps and runs inside. "Farengar!" She shouts with panic written all over her face. "We need you at once! A dragon has been spotted just outside of Whiterun!" She told him, taking him completely off guard.

"A dragon!?" Hope speaks before he can. "Is it the same one that attacked Helgen?!" She quickly asks with her hands clasping together in front of her. Irileth quickly looks at Hope, realizing that she was in so much of a hurry she hadn't even noticed her. "I...I don't know..." Irileth spoke nervously. "Maybe you should come with me, if it is the same one...than you're the only one who knows anything about it."

"Hang on just a minute!" Vilkas spoke up, but he was unheard. Everyone around him was in such a quick panic that he was almost entirely forgotten. "A dragon!" Farengar exclaimed in excitement as he rushed past them to leave the study. "How fascinating!"

Hope turned to follow them but she was quickly stopped by Vilkas grabbing her arm. She turns and looks at him with her eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "What do you think you're doing?" He questioned with his eyebrows furrowed. Hope questioned him with her own furrowed eyebrows. "Why are you following them?" He questioned again.

"You heard her." Hope said. "She said a dragon has been spotted."

"Yes, which makes this something the Jarl and his guard should deal with. Not us."

Hope quickly scoffs as she yanks her arm out of Vilkas's grip. "How could you say something like that! Isn't it a Companions duty to help and protect the innocent from danger? Or is it only like that when there's coin to be made?"

Her words stung and hit Vilkas hard, taking him by surprise. "I'm the only one that's been close enough to a dragon to see it spill fire from it's throat. If my experience can help, than I'm going to help!"

"Help? Is that the only reason you're doing it, or is there something more?"

She looks taken back from his words, but his words were true and she knew it. She did want to help...but she also wanted to see...to see it again. If it's the same dragon, maybe a second encounter might shed some light for her? Might help her wrap her mind around everything that's been happening to her? Happening to the world? She didn't know, every reason, every excuse that comes to her mind ends up not making any sense because truthfully, she didn't know. She didn't know why she needed to see it, she didn't know why she wanted to be close to it again. Maybe it was because she needed proof that she wasn't going crazy?

So, with nothing left to say, she turns and rushes after Irileth. Vilkas watches her for a moment before quickly following after her again. He tries to follow her up a large set of stairs, but a guard quickly steps in his way. "I'm with her." Vilkas quickly said with a finger pointing at Hope. "Doesn't matter, I didn't hear the housecarl invite you along." The guard said with his arms crossing. Vilkas furrowed his eyebrows down at him and wanted to argue, but instead just sighed and turned away to wait for Hope near the doors.

"My lord, this is the guard from the watch tower." Irileth quickly spoke with a group of people rushing up the stairs behind her. Hope quickly stands to the side and listens closely. The Jarl notices her and looks at her for a moment before turning his attention to the guard stepping forward. "Go a head, tell him what you told me!" Irileth instructed.

The guard nervously nodded before slowly taking his helmet off so that he could catch his breath. Hope watched sweat run down his forehead and into his dirty red beard like a river. "A..dragon..." He breaths as he wipes his forehead off with the back of his arm. "It's okay son, take your time." Balgruuf said as he stepped forward and placed a hand on the guards shoulder.

"Okay..." The guard sighed as he took a moment to catch his breath. "There's a dragon, circling over the watch tower." He explained. "Ah..gods!" The guard quickly bends over with his hands resting on his knees. "I've never ran so fast in my life..."

"What did it look like?" Hope quickly asks, drawing everyone's eyes towards her. The guard turns his head and stares at her for a moment before speaking. "I..I don't know, it was too high in the sky for me to really see."

"You think it was the one that attacked Helgen, don't you?" The Jarl asked as he stepped towards Hope. "I..I don't know.." Hope told him as she slowly looked down at her feet. The Jarl stares at her for a moment before turning to look at Irileth. "I would advice sending her with me and a group of guards my lord, she's the only who's ever seen a dragon up close, she's the only one who knows what we're really up against." Irileth said.

The Jarl slowly turns his head back to Hope. "What do you say, my friend?"

Hope quickly looks up at him. "I know you've already gone to great lengths to help us...but we could use your help once more." The Jarl said. "Like Irileth said, you're the only among us that's ever seen a dragon and seen what they can do. My men could really use your help with this."

Hope stares at him for a moment before giving him a confident nod. "I was going to help anyways." She told him with a small smile. "You're a good woman." Balgruuf said with his own smile. "Irileth." He turns his attention back to his housecarl. "Ready your men by the gate and tell them what they're up against."

"Of course my lord." Irileth said with a bow of her head. "I would very much like to come." Farengar spoke up, making the Jarl look at him. "Seeing a dragon up close is a rare occurrence, I would like to take advantage of it for my research."

"No, I can't risk losing you both in this." Balgruuf said. "Of course." Farengar sighed but bowed his head in respect towards his Jarl. "Irileth, be careful. This is no glory mission, so take no risks." He said with his eyes going back to his housecarl. She couldn't help but smile in return and reply. "I am the very soul of caution, my lord."

Hope watched them hold each others gaze for a split second before Irileth turned around and started heading for the stairs. "Let's go." She said to Hope. Hope quickly rushes after her. "If it's okay with you, I would like to gather some of the Companions for this. I think we could really use their help." Hope suggested.

"If it's extra blades and help, you will hear no complaints from me." Irileth told her. Hope nodded and quickly rushed a head of her when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Meet me by the gate!" Irileth shouted as she quickly gathered up any soldiers she saw walking around.

Hope passed Vilkas as she ran to the doors and pushed them open as fast as she could, and Vilkas has to literally run to catch up to her. "What's going on? What are you doing?" He quickly asked. "Gathering the Companions, we're going to fight a dragon."

 _'Oh...hell.'_


	53. Chapter 53

GOSH GUY'S THIS CHAPTER IS SUPER LATE AND I'M SUPER SORRY! I got caught up in a bunch of stuff, so I wasn't able to finish and post it until today! Anyways...I proof read it a little but not a lot so I hope it's not too bad to read. Also know that this doesn't follow the story and quest directly because I made it my own! I hope you guys like it and enjoy it! AGAIN I'M SORRY! Dx Dx

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"Kodlak, where's Kodlak?!" Hope shouted as she ran to the Companions that were sitting outside. Ria's eyes widened as she quickly looked around. "I uh, I don't know. Why what's going on?" She asked as she looked back towards Hope. "There's a dragon outside of Whiterun and the Companions have been asked to help." Hope told her, even though it was entirely true but she did get permission from Irileth to gather who she could.

"A dragon?!" Ria gasped. "Bull!" Njada shouted. "You don't believe me? Go out there and see for yourself!" Hope shouted with her finger pointing behind her. Njada stared at her for a moment with her jaw tightening. "If there really is a dragon then what in oblivion do you think we can do about it!?" Torvrar quickly questioned with wide eyes.

"Help, we can help." Vilkas answered before Hope, taking her a bit by surprise. "Now go to the gate, that's where the rest of the guards are gathering."

Torvrar stares at him for a moment and then looks to Njada and Ria, wanting to know what to do. Ria looks at Vilkas and then to Hope before standing up from her seat. "Well, you heard them. The Companions have been called on for help, so..let's go help." She said with her voice shaking in the end, most likely out of fear and who could blame her? She was about to face a..dragon after all...

Hope and Vilkas both watch the three Companions quickly gather their weapons and then make their way around the building. "Let's find the others." Vilkas said as he and Hope headed for the doors. They open the doors in a hurry and are glad to see that the remaining Companions were just inside, eating.

"What's wrong?" Farkas immediately asked, taking notice to their hurry and panic. "Kodlak." Hope approaches the Harbinger right off the bat. "There's..there's a dragon outside of Whiterun." Was all she could get out, for some reason whenever she was around Kodlak she always had a harder time hiding her emotions and speaking clearly. "A dragon!?" Skjor exclaims in disbelief before Kodlak could say a word.

Kodlak stares at Hope for a moment and watches tears slowly weld up in her eyes, and they were tears of fear. Fear of what was going to happen when they encountered the dragon and fear of what it might do to her. Kodlak sensed these emotions in Hope and could hear the fast pace of her heart.

"The Jarl needs our help to deal with the dragon." Vilkas explained. "What!?" Athis exclaimed. "No way! Why would he ask our help!"

"Does it matter?" Kodlak spoke as he rose from his chair. "Innocent people are in danger and any honorable warrior would stand to defend them. No matter the situation."

"I suppose." Athis sighed before taking a big gulp of his mead. He then stands up from his chair with the other Companions doing the same. "I must say, I am quite curious about what dragons are actually like in battle.." Aela admitted as she and Skjor headed for the doors. "Looks like you're going to find out." Skjor told her as he held open the door for her.

As the Companions made their way through the streets of Whiterun, they could hear hushed whispers and panicked arguments among the citizens. "Did you hear!? There's a dragon flying around just outside of Whiterun!" One citizen shouted. "Look there! Smoke in the sky! Has it struck one of the farms outside the city!?" Another yelled.

Hope quickly looked up in the direction the citizen pointed out and immediately felt her own panic start to rise. _'Gods...black smoke...'_ And black smoke meant there was still a fire burning. The trail of smoke in the sky looked to be a distance away but...not far enough to be anywhere near Rorikstead...at least not yet. _'We need to hurry.'_

As they approach the gate, Hope can see Irileth giving a speech to her men, most likely trying to boost their confidence but from what Hope could hear...it wasn't working.

"By the gods! A dragon!" One of the guards yelled. "You seriously think we can take on a monster from legend!" Another shouted. "We're so dead..."

Irileth sighs as she pinches the bridge of her nose, Ria and Njada both quickly look to the approaching Companions the moment they heard footsteps. "This is all you could gather?" Vilkas questioned as he counted the few guards that stood near Irileth. "I wasn't abe to gather any more than this because some need to stay behind in case we can't stop the dragon." Irileth told him as she removed her hand from her face.

"We won't be able to stop the dragon." A guard remarked, making Irileth quickly turn and glare at him.

"Are you joking!?" Irileth retorted. "I gather up all I believe who **can** kill a dragon and this is what I get instead!" She yelled, making every guard in front of her wince like scared children. "I know it sounds bad and I don't know if we will be able to stop this dragon. You're all scared, you're all worried, and I'll admit that even I feel a bit of fear as well; but I'll be damned to be caught running away with my tail between my legs because of fear!"

"Just what would your families, your children think if they saw you cower like this now?"

Every guard slowly looks to each other. "Would you rather them know you as a coward? Or would you have them know you as a hero for fighting against a very legend in order to protect your home, to protect your family."

"You ask a lot...housecarl..." One guard sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck in shame.

"I know I do and I know this will not be easy. But this is something we have to do, to protect our city and protect the ones we love." The guard slowly looks back up at her. "So, what do you say?" She looks around at every one of them with her crimson red eyes. "Shall we go kill us a dragon?"

All of the guards before her slowly look to each other before looking towards the one that showed doubt. He stood there for a moment, only staring at her before giving her a good, confident nod. Irileth can't help but grin at the soldiers before her. "Alright then." She turns to Hope and the other Companions with her. "Are you ready?" She asked and Hope gave her a hard nod in response. "Then let's go!"

They run down from the open gate and then past the stables. As they run down the road, Hope can see clearly that the smoke was coming from the watch tower that was a couple of miles away from Whiterun. Even though they were still far from it, she could make out the destruction of the stone tower and see the tips of the flames that burned away the grass around it. _'Gods..I hope no one was hurt...'_ But she knew that was too much to hope for...

They reach the top of a small hill that led down directly towards the watch tower. Irileth stands in front of everyone with her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. "I don't see any dragon...but there are signs there has been one here..." She commented as she examined the fresh piles of rubble from the collapsed tower and the fire moving along the grass. With a sigh, she turns and faces the soldiers behind her. "I don't know what the current situation is, but it looks bad. So keep your guard up and your eyes open."

The soldiers all gave her a nod as did the Companions before they all ran towards the broken tower. Hope stops in front of a pile of burning wood and stares down at the smoke rising from beneath them. "Gods..." She slowly looks over to a couple of soldiers trying to put out the fire around them the best they could. She then looks over to Ria and Njada standing over a part of the fallen tower and staring down at something with disturbing looks on their faces.

Hope makes her way over to them and soon finds out exactly what was disturbing them. It was s corpse, trapped beneath the fallen tower with fresh blood pooling beneath it. Hope quickly shuts her eyes and walks away from it, not being able to bare anymore death. "Does anybody see any survivors?" Skjor asked as he kicked rubble away from his feet. "Non." Aela sighed as she bent over and checked the pulse of a lifeless body.

The destruction...gods the destruction... Vilkas stares out at the broken tower and the few either crushed or burned bodies laying about on the ground, with his eyes wide and muscles tensed. This, this was just a watch tower, nothing but a simple watch tower with a few guards who took turns with their patrols...and it looked like a complete massacre. If this is what a dragon's attack does to a small number of guards and a watch tower...Vilkas couldn't even begin to imagine what Helgen looked like...what Hope witnessed...

Vilkas slowly turns and moves his eyes to Hope. He watches the color in her face slowly fade and her eyes drop to the ground. It was obvious all of it was sending her back, back to when she ran for her life and watched tons of people die...

In the beginning, after Hope had returned to them and told them what happened. Many of the Companions were confused and some even mocked her, but then...passing travelers told the same stories, some even gave clear description of what the dragon looked like; but even then they still had a hard time believing any of it, even Vilkas had a hard time wrapping his head around it all, no matter how much he told himself he believed Hope's story..

But now...now they were seeing the evidence for themselves. Now they were smelling burnt flesh in the air and seeing the destruction with their very eyes; and now...Vilkas was truly seeing the damage and change it had all caused in Hope.

He watched her slowly cover her mouth and nose, trying to escape from the horrifying smell of death because clearly..she has had enough of it already and looked like she was going to be sick any minute.

"Hey!" Torvrar shouts, causing everyone to quickly react. "I've got some movement over here!" He said as everyone ran over to him. Torvrar and Athis were kicking rubble away and pushing stones off a pile to reveal a man that was trapped underneath. Irileth quickly ran over to him and grabbed him by the arm to pull him out of the mess before he could get damaged any more.

"Gods!" The man cried when his legs were finally free from the pile of stones. He coughed and choked on dust caught in his throat as he gathered himself. "Guardsman, what happened here? Quickly now!?" Irileth demanded, her fear and panic clouding her sympathy for the injured man.

"A..a dragon!" He shouted. "It came out of no where and struck us with devastating blows! It all happened so fast non of us could react in time!" He explained. "Ah...gods..poor Hroki..him and Tor both got grabbed when they were trying to make a run for it..It just grabbed them by the teeth and then...oh gods..." The guardsman then covers his face with the palm of his hand, no longer wishing to talk about the horrifying event.

They all stare at him with wide unbelieving eyes, all except Hope. She believed him.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar echoes through out the sky, one so loud and tremendous, they thought they could feel the very air around them move. All at once, everyone looks to the sky and in the sky, they see it; the dragon. "Gods! It's coming back!" The guardsman yells in panic. "Kynereth save us!"

"Here it comes!" Irileth yells as she draws her sword. "Get ready!" She yells again and all at once everyone readies their weapons and spreads out to different positions around the wrecked tower.

Gods this is happening, this is really happening and he just can't believe it. Even though he's crouching behind part of the tower with his sword and shield drawn, Vilkas can't believe it. He looks around at every Companions including his brother and watches them draw their weapons with sweat quickly forming on their brow's.

He then looks from Farkas and looks around for Hope, but he can't find her, he can't see her. He stands up from the ground and walks out from behind the tower and sees her standing in the same spot she was in before, with her eyes meeting the dragons in the sky. "What are you-" He's cut off by a huge gust of wind that knocks him down to the ground, except it didn't feel like wind. It felt like a wall had been dropped right on top of him and knocked the very air out of his lungs.

Then in a split second the dragon is on the ground and it's landing makes the very ground shake beneath their feet, causing all those who weren't ready for it to fall. Vilkas gets back up to his feet as quick as he can and looks up to find Hope running away from the dragon as fast as she could. He soon finds out why when he looks to the dragon and watches it's chest rise. "Get down!" Farkas shouted as he tackled his brother to the ground and the moment he did fire was blown into the air.

The dragon unleashed fire in every direction it could turn its head, wishing to kill all it could. "How in the gods names are we going to take this beast down!?" Athis shouts over its roars as he and Torvrar both duck behind a large piece of stone.

"Shoot it with everything you've got! Hit it with all of your strength! We cannot let it live!" Irileth shouted and soon after, all of her soldiers quickly charged at the dragon with their weapons in hand. The Companions quickly join them the best they can, Aela stands on top of the tower and shoots arrows down at it, but it does nothing because its scales are too hard and her arrows just ricochet off of it. She curses under her breath as she continues to release her arrows, refusing to give up.

Hope slowly stands and watches with wide eyes as everyone throws everything at the dragon. She watches the dragon throw its tail around in the air and hit away some of the Companions with its wings. She knew she needed to help, she knew they needed her help...but she also knew something was wrong...something was wrong because it was not the same dragon that destroyed Helgen. No, it wasn't the same, it's color was completely different and even though it was much bigger than them, it was much smaller than the first dragon. Fear quickly spread out through her body as her bottom lip trembled at the reality of the situation.

Suddenly the dragon inhales again with its chest quickly rising, causing everyone near it to run away and find cover as fast as they could. Hope runs and slides behinds parts of the tower littering the ground and Irileth joins her. Quickly soon after, fire is in the air and spilling onto the ground, creating rivers of fire on the grass and the dead bodies that already littered the ground. "Gods! How can we defeat such a beast!" Irileth shouted as she covered her head with her arms. Hope quickly looked up at her and saw that she already had burns on her armor and arms.

"Irileth!" Hope shouted over its thunderous roar. Irileth quickly looks at her. "This dragon...it's not the same one!" She told her, making Irileth eyes go wide. She quickly looks from Hope and to the dragon that quickly took flight to the air to make an air strike. She then quickly looks back to Hope and shouts. "Are you telling me that there are more than one of these damn things!?"

Hope bites her bottom lip and quickly nods. "Gods!" Irileth shouted as loud as she could as she watched the dragon circle around the tower in the sky. Hope quickly gets to her feet with her bow in hand as she watches the dragon circle around them once more before letting out another roar. The soldiers around her let their arrows fly but non were able to pierce it's thick skin. She could also hear Aela cursing loudly as she too continued to fire her arrows at the giant beast.

The dragon then lands hard on the ground, once again making all near it lose their balance and fall to the ground. Ria falls right in front of it and the dragon takes notice to her, it first lifts it's head into the air as she scrambled to her feet. Hope watched with horrified eyes as the dragon opened its mouth to make Ria it's next meal. "No!" Hope shouted as she quickly pulled back an arrow and released it. The arrow flew through the air and hit the dragon on the side of it's head.

Like all other arrows, it ricocheted off, but it got it's attention. The dragon winces before quickly turning its attention towards Hope, it glares at her deeply and its golden eyes set something aflame inside her just like before when she was in Helgen. The dragon then quickly lunges its giant body towards Hope, forcing her to jump out of the way and hit the ground hard.

She quickly scrambles back to her feet as the dragon snaps at her and she was able to jump forward, out of the way just in time. "Get to your feet! Don't stop attacking!" She heard Irileth shout and everyone quickly followed her order. "AAAAH!" Vilkas charges at the dragon with his shield high and his sword pointed downwards. When he reaches the dragon he immediately has to dodge its swinging tail and then right after, he swings his sword across the dragon's side, managing to give it a good cut.

The dragon hollers in pain before quickly smashing its wing into Vilkas, sending him flying back. When he hits the ground the air is knocked right out of his lungs, but he can't afford to lay around and try to recover so despite what his body was telling him, he gets back up to his feet and charges right at the dragon again. He needed to get its attention away from Hope.

"Weak spot!" Aela shouted as she quickly knocked back an arrow and released it. The arrow landed right in the dragon's open wound and caused it to roar in pain. "There! Hit it there!" Irileth shouted and every one that had a bow all knocked their arrows back at once. The dragon took notice to their actions and quickly spun its rear around and knocked the archers down with its tail as well as some of the Companions. "Come on lads!" Kodlak shouted. "We can best this beast!"

"No way in hell am I dying before my evening drink!" Torvrar shouted as he quickly got back to his feet and charged the dragon with his war-axe high in the air.

Hope quickly runs behind large pieces of the fallen tower and climbed to the very top of it. She then quickly pulls back an arrow and sends it flying right for the dragons eye. It doesn't hit it's eye, but it does stick into its cheek and cause it some serious pain. "Thank the gods for another weak spot!" Aela shouted before releasing her own arrow and then grinning when she sees it stick into the top of the dragons skull.

Aela and Hope both are relentless with their arrows, all of them sticking out of the dragon's head. The dragon lets out a massive roar of pain before quickly doing a complete 360 spin to relieve itself of all of the arrows and to also knock down the pile of rubble Hope was standing on.

Hope crashes onto the ground hard along with the rubble falling right on top of her. Luckily it was loose enough for her to get herself out of it, but before she could, the dragon does another spin and stops to where face was lows to her and its eyes were burning into hers. Hope's body immediately freezes as she stares into the eyes of the beast.

"You mortals never change." When it speaks, its voice is deep and loud like thunder and when the words leave it's mouth; everyone freezes, completely taken off guard by it. "You fight battles you know you can not win, but at least when you fight...its entertaining." Suddenly, the dragon takes flight and the burst of wind coming from its wings blows everyone to the ground.

"I didn't know they talked!" Torvrar shouted in panic as he once again, got back up to his feet.

"Come mortals! Show me what you're truly made of!" The dragon shouted in the sky before blowing out a stream of flames into the air. _"Agli Daal Laat Dovahkiin!"_ Hope's eyes widened as she watched the dragon suddenly dive downward in the air and it was coming right for her.

She quickly frees her self of the fallen rubble and barly jumps out of the way in time before it can snatch her up with its teeth. The dragon quickly pulls itself back up right in the air and then lands hard on the ground, causing the earth to shake and crack. "Will there ever be an end to this beast!?" Skjor shouted as he quickly cut his great-sword into its other side, creating another deep open wound.

The dragon quickly knocks Skjor back with its tail before it charges right for Hope again. She's not ready, she doesn't have enough time to grab another arrow, all she can do at the moment it just run and pray to the gods that it doesn't reach her with it's teeth. _'Why is it only going after her now!?'_ Vilkas thought to himself in panic as he quickly ran after the dragon and hit the back of its leg with his sword, but all it did was annoy it and make it kick its leg back to send Vilkas flying once again.

The dragon quickly lunges forward and snaps its giant mouth right at Hope's back, but she's able to jump a head and dodge it's massive teeth. The dragon roars out of frustration and then stops to inhale deeply. _'Now's a chance to strike!'_ Hope immediately decided as she already had an arrow in her fingers and her bow in the air. She spins around with the arrow knocked back, but waits. "What are you doing!?" She hears Vilkas shout, but she still waits.

She waits for the dragon to inhale a little deeper and then open its mouth. The moment its mouth opens and she can see an orange glow form in the back of it's throat, is when she releases her arrow. The arrow flies direction into the dragon's mouth and sticks to the back of its throat, causing it to suddenly roar in pain and thrash it's head around violently.

"Now! Strike now!" Irileth shouts and everyone does just that. Aela is sending arrow after arrow at its head the best she can while everyone else strikes it at the side, revealing more weak spots that they didn't have time to expose until now.

The dragon roars in pain and tries to do whatever it can to stop the attacks coming, but they didn't stop. It was in a frenzy, it was panicking, and every single person that was able to stand was taking advantage of that. "Don't stop now lads!" Kodlak shouts as he plunges his blade into the dragons belly, drawing out a lot of blood.

Hope grabs several arrows at once and pulls them all back together, she releases them and watches them land on the dragon's head and one into its eye. Another roar of pain is heard from the dragon as it thrashes its head around once again, but now was spewing fire out where ever it could, forcing those that were up close to quickly retreat so that they wouldn't burn alive. _'This can't go on forever, I have to do something now!'_

Without really thinking about it, Hope rushes towards the dragon and the moment its head is swinging for her, she grabs onto one of its many horns. The dragon roars out of frustration now as it throws it's head around to get her off. "What in oblivion is she doing!?" Vilkas yells as he watches the woman he's fallen for hang on for her life on the head of a dragon!

Hope clenches her teeth together tightly as she grips its horns with both hands as best she can, but it was difficult. "Even if you defeat me now, your world will still come to an end! Alduin has returned and not even you can stop-" "AAAH!" The dragon is cut off by Hope's yelling as she quickly took a small chance to sit up and plunge her blade into a spot where one of Aela's arrow's stuck in the deepest.

The dragon lets out a tremendous roar, one that forces everyone to cover their ears. It flings its head one last time, sending Hope flying before it's body slowly falls to the ground and becomes lifeless. Hope gasps for the air that was knocked out of her as she slowly stands to her wobbly feet. She then quickly turns towards the dragon and watches it take its last breath before completely dying.

Everyone stands in shock, their eyes wide and their mouths agape, all in disbelief that it was actually dead. "It's...it's dead?" Torvrar questioned but refused to step towards it's body to see.

"I..." Ria trails off before a smile takes form on her face. "I think it is!" She cheered and the moment she did, everybody else around her joined in. "We did it!" A guard shouted. "We actually killed a damn dragon!" Another cheered.

"Hahaha! Damn good shooting boys!" Irileth shouted as she firmly patted one of the soldiers shoulers.

Instead of joining in on the cheering, Hope just stood there, staring out at the dragon's lifeless body; still not sure if she really believed it was dead... "Are you okay?" Vilkas's voice makes her jump and quickly look back at him. "Y-yeah..." She told him as she slowly turned back around to face the dragon. "Is something wrong?" He asked as he stepped to her side.

"Something just..." She trails off, feeling sudden unease come upon her. "Something just doesn't feel right..." She told him. "What are you talking about? The dragon's dead, we did it." Vilkas replied, but Hope didn't react. She just kept staring at the dragon's body.

She couldn't explain the feeling she was getting, it was something she had never felt before...it was like...a pressure rising in her chest; as if her body was wanting to take a deep breath, but when she did the feeling didn't go away.

"Wait, something's happening!" Farkas shouted, turning everybody's attention back towards the dragon and that's..when it started glowing.


	54. Chapter 54

First it was just bright, but then soon the dragon's body was blinding to look at. "By the gods!" One of the soldiers shouted. "What is happening?!" Another yelled. "Everybody, get back and find cover!" Irileth yelled and the moment she did, everyone spreads out and each finds their own safe spot.

Hope stared at the dragon for a moment longer before turning and fleeing with Vilkas at her side, but the moment she began to run, her body comes to a quick stop. But she didn't stop herself, no something else stopped her and she didn't know what. Something else forced her to turn and face the dragon's corpse and the moment she did, a great forceful wind blew right over her and everybody-making them all duck for cover with their arms held up over their heads.

When Vilkas crouches behind a giant fallen piece of tower is when he realizes that Hope is no longer with him. He quickly stands but that's when the great gush of wind hits him and nearly sends him to the ground. "Agh!" He shouts as he covers his head with his arms. He slowly looks up and watches as Hope stands frozen in place with her body fully turned towards the dragon's corpse. "Liah!" He shouts her true name over the howling wind, but she doesn't hear him. In fact, she doesn't hear anything but the sounds of the wind rushing around her and it was literally moving around her.

The wind soon took form and too started to glow into a blinding light, forcing Vilkas to squint his eyes and then eventually close them because it was too much to bear.

Hope watches the wind twist and turn all around her with wide eyes as a strange feeling starts to overwhelm her. First it begins in her core and then quickly moves up to her chest, causing her heart to beat so fast she actually thought it might burst from her chest. Even though the wind was moving swiftly around her, Hope felt like she couldn't catch her breath; and she was breathing in as much as she could, but all it did was make her head feel light.

Her hair whips around violently as the air suddenly rises, making Hope feel like she was rising with it and then it comes crashing down like an unseen wall-forcing her down to her knees. Everything was happening so fast and suddenly, she didn't even realize when her vision clouds with a memory that is not hers.

A memory that quickly takes over the feeling of fear that first appeared inside her and it was a feeling of joy. Joy from feeling the air hitting her face and wings, wait...wings? It wasn't her that the wind was hitting...it was...the dragon? Was this the dragon's memory? If so, then why was she seeing it, why was any of this happening?

Non of that didn't matter to her at the moment, because her mind was too focused on what it was showing her, on what it was making her feel. Just pure joy and freedom, freedom from a cold grave that it was trapped in for hundred's of years. It was exhilarating, exciting, and scary. She was looking into the very soul of the dragon, it's mind, and then soon it's knowledge.

Knowledge of power, power that ruled over mortals for years. Power that directed itself to one word, a word that forced all away and any who dared to challenge to fall to their knees. "Fus..." The word falls off her lips like a song would flow from a bard's mouth. The moment the word appeared in her mind and left her lips, something snapped inside of her..something... awakened.

 _'When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world. When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped. When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles. When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls. When the Snow Tower lies sundered, king-less, bleeding. The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn.'_

The voice she hears in her head, it's not hers but it is many and it sends a strong feeling rushing through her veins, a feeling so strong she doesn't know if she can take it.

 _'_ _Laat-Dovahkiin, accept your birth right. Get up! Show all that you are here! Use your voice to shout to the very heavens so that all that threaten this world know of your coming!'_

She can't fight the commands in her head even if she wanted to. She can't fight against the overwhelming power making itself through her body, and she can't fight or cower against the feelings inside. That's why she was slowly standing to her feet, that's why her eyes were landing on the sky above, and that's why...she unwillingly opens her mouth and releases something so great that the very skies above her tremble.

"FUS!" The moment the word erupts from her mouth, thunder echoes through out the sky. The ground beneath her feet shake and immediately form into cracks that spider-web out all around her. Then the moment the thunder in the sky disperses and the strange force inside her disappears. Hope can't stop herself from collapsing onto her knees on the ground.

She gasps loudly as her lungs take in as much air as they can, she feels like it'd been hours sense she had been able to take in a good breath even though it's only been a few seconds. She's so caught up in the moment and in trying to catch her breath, she doesn't notice the current attention she was getting.

"By the gods..." She heard someone breath. She quickly looks up and is shocked to see everyone standing around her, their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open; all in complete disbelief of what just happened.

Hope looks at everyone quickly before looking back at the dragon and her eyes widen when she see's that its now nothing but a skeleton barley being hold together by bits of muscle left behind. She slowly turns back around and watches not only the guard, but the Companions, her friends, her family...Vilkas; all stare out at her with wide eyes full of different mixture of emotions. Was it fear? Or simply just confusion? She didn't know yet, but by the way Vilkas was looking at her...she had a feeling she was going to find out later.

"I...I can't believe it..." One of the soldiers stammered, turning Hope's attention towards him. Now he and all the other guard all quickly rush towards Hope, pushing any Companion in their way, out of the way. "You're..." The guard trails off to stare at Hope a moment longer before continuing. "You're...Dragonborn..."

The moment the name left his mouth, everyone including the Companions all started to whisper and speak among themselves. Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him slowly stands to her feet. "What are you talking about?" She questioned.

"What am I.." The guard repeated her with his own eyebrows quickly furrowing. "What am I talking about? Do you not know what just happened?!"

Hope's eyebrows slowly pinch together before she shakes her head "no" at him. "Do **you** even know what just happened?" Another guard spoke up, making the other one quickly turns around and looks at him. "Of course I do!" He shouted. "Did non of you just see what happened!?"

He quickly turns back around towards Hope. "She just absorbed that dragon's soul and then shouted to the very heavens! Only a Dragonborn can do that!"

"Li-Listen...I don't know what-" The guard quickly cuts her off. "Could you shout like that before? Before today? Before killing that dragon?" He quickly asks her with his finger aiming towards the pile of bones.

"N..no..." Hope slowly tells him.

"So just like I said! Just like I thought...Dragonborn..."

"What are you going on about?" Another guard quickly questioned.

"No, he's right!" One exclaimed. "I grew up hearing stories about the Dragonborn! Everything you just did fits!"

As all the guards spoke and babbled around Hope, Vilkas and the other Companions all stand a distance away, watching with disbelief filling their eyes; especially Vilkas's. "So uh..." Torvrar slowly speaks up but trails off, not being able to find his words.

"Do you think it's as they say?" Ria wonders out-loud as she stares out at Hope with wide eyes. "Don't..don't be ridiculous!" Skjor quickly shouted even though he himself sounded unsure. "But...what just happened..." Torvrar pointed out with is eyes going to the corpse of the dragon.

"Non of it makes any sense though..." Njada muttered as she kicked dirt up that was laying around her feet. "Maybe it's not meant to make sense." Kodlak said, making everyone turn and look at him. "At least not us...not yet." He said with his eyes staying on Hope.

He watches her look at each of the guards surrounding her with wide eyes that showed a hint of panic and fear in them. Fear that what they were saying could be true and panic from not knowing what to do next if it were true... "A long road awaits all of us...I'm afraid..." Kodlak said quietly, making all of the Companions feel even more confused than they were to begin with.

"What do you say Irileth?" One of the guards said as he turned himself towards her. "What do you say about all of this?"

"Hmph..." Irileth stares at Hope for a moment and takes notice to the discomfort appearing in her features. "I say you're all better off keeping your mouths shut than going on about matters you no nothing about." She said while approaching the pile of bones. "Here lies a dead dragon, that's the only important thing about this right now because now we **know** we can kill them."

"You wouldn't understand Housecarl, you aint a Nord."

Irileth quickly scoffs before turning towards the guard. "I've been all across Tamriel and have seen things just as outlandish as this!" She spat. "So like I said, keep your mouths shut because I don't need some mythical Dragonborn." She slowly turns towards Hope. "Anyone, who can put down a dragon is more than enough for me." She said with a confident nods towards Hope. But it didn't make Hope feel any better about the situation...

"No, there's no other explanation for this." The guard quickly speaks. "You have to be Dragonborn...you must be..." It almost sounded like he was wishing her to be one, but she wasn't one! Right?

"Alright, enough of this. Let's check for any injured and..." Hope doesn't hear the rest of what Irileth was going to say because the moment the attention was taken off her, she was gone. She was walking fast and didn't even bother to look up at the Companions when she walked by them. She just wanted to get back...she just wanted to forget about the whole Dragonbor... She just wanted to forget about it all, everything and...get back to her regular life...

She can hear them behind her, the Companions. She's been listening to their footsteps behind her as she walked down the stone road and so far, non have tried to walk past her or beside her...not even Vilkas...

A quick painful jolt is sent through her stomach, one that causes her chest to tighten and a hard lump to rise in her throat. She quickly swallows that lump down as she continues to walk and maybe even picks up the pace. Gods...can anything ever be the same again? What really happened to her back there and WHY did it happen to HER? Of all people...

 _'You're...Dragonborn...'_ The guards words echo in her mind and she shuts her eyes tightly to try and rid herself from the thought, but she can't. No matter how hard she tries...she just can't. Dragonborn...a legend..a story...and history...

The Emporer's of Tamriel used all be Dragonborn...Tiber Septim was Dragonborn...many others were Dragonborn and now...Hope was Dragonborn?

 _'No!'_ She shakes her head violently to rid herself of the thoughts once again, but like before they did not go away. No, she can't be Dragonborn, she just can't because anyone who knew anything at all knew that when a Dragonborn came into the picture...a great many changes came with them.

 _'No, gods no.'_ She walks faster and continues to walk at her fast pace and doesn't care that she was leaving the rest of the Companions behind her. Part of her wanted to leave them behind just a little, the heavy silence around them was killing her and she felt like holes were being dug into her head from their constant staring.

 _'Laat-Dovahkiin.'_ The strange voice she heard before echos in her mind once more and she tries to push it away, but can't. She walks even faster and almost breaks out into a run, as if she was trying to outrun her thoughts and her fear. _'Dragonborn!'_ Now her blood boils just at the thought, just at the word. So what if something weird happened! So what if she opened her mouth and the sky...just so happened to thunder! So what if the dragon's flesh disappeared and only SEEMED like its essence went into her! All of that can be explained because no way was she a-

"D-O-V-A-H-K-I-I-N!" The ground shakes as the thunderous voices appear in the sky, causing everyone to come to a quick stop and stare straight up. Hope stares at the sky with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Her eyes first search the sky for the source as the earth continues to shake beneath them, but then slowly, they're redirected by something else that wasn't her towards a certain direction.

All she can see are the clouds and the peaks of the mountains, but inside, in her mind...she knows there's something more there. Something built on the very tops of the mountains...hidden behind the clouds...and she knows...something was calling her to there...


	55. Chapter 55

When Hope first ran, Vilkas tried to go after her but Kodlak stopped him. "Let her go, son." He had said, but Vilkas refused. He shoved Kodlak's gentle grip off of his shoulder and took off after Hope. Not in the means to comfort her, but to get answers. To get some damn answers...

What was all that? Has she been like this the entire time? Did she know she was like this the entire time? Was it a secret? Did she not trust them? All of those questions filled Vilkas's head as he ran down the road after Hope. _'No.'_ Is what he told himself when his doubtful thoughts came to be, but then again, no one just all of the sudden becomes Dragonborn right? Right!? No, there's no way.

Vilkas catches up to her down the road faster than he thought he would and when he does, he grabs her shoulder and turns her around rougher than he means to. Hope looks completely taken back by it as she stares up at him with her cheeks red from the cold and possibly the tears streaming from her eyes. Vilkas is surprised for a moment, but only a moment...

"What in a oblivion was all of that!?" He shouts even though he doesn't mean to. Once again, Hope is completely taken back by his actions. "What-" He cuts her off. "Don't act like you don't know!" He shouts again, making her wince as if he had just punched her and by the way he felt afterwords...he mine-as-well have.

 _'Stop.'_ He tells himself, but he can't. His raging emotions surface so fast that he can't stop them and honestly...he doesn't even know what they are. They could be anger, confusion, fear...they could be anything but whatever they were, had the beast inside of him scratching at his surface.

"How long have you been like this?" He quickly asks, causing Hope's eyebrows to pinch together. "What?" She questions. "How long have you known this was going to happen?" He asks again. "What was going to happen?"

"Everything!" He shouts, making her jump. "The dragons returning, **you**!" He regrets what he says the moment the words leave his mouth and the moment he sees the wounding he causes inside of Hope.

She quickly sneers at him and then shoves him off as hard as she can, making him stumble a few steps away from her. "You honestly think I knew about any of this?! You think I've been hiding...THIS!" She gestures her arms out to point out...whatever was inside of her. "I don't know, I don't know the secrets you hide from us!" Vilkas shouts.

Hope scoffs before letting out a manic laughter. "Ha! Me? Secrets?!" She scowls. "Who are you to question me about secrets?" She said in a low voice before flashing her eyes towards the rest of the Companions that now stand behind Vilkas.

Vilkas quickly tenses as his heart slams against his chest from the whirling emotions inside of him. Vilkas stares down at Hope and watches a single tear escape the corner of her eye and slowly fall down her cheek. He opens his mouth to speak, but Kodlak speaks before he can. "That's enough!" He shouts, making Vilkas quickly shut his mouth.

Him and Hope both stand there in silence for a small moment, but it was a long enough moment to make Vilkas realize just how stupid he acted towards her and...everything.

Hope stares at him long and hard, piercing through him with her eyes like she would with a knife through his chest. "I didn't ask for this." She said with a small tremble appearing in her bottom lip. "I didn't want this." Her voice breaks a little with that last sentence before quickly turning away from Vilkas and storming off.

Vilkas watches her with a heavy heart full of regret. "Now...what was that supposed to accomplish?" Kodlak asked as he watched Vilkas slowly drop his head and rest a hand on the back of his neck. "I don't know..." Vilkas sighed before he slowly started to walk down the road.

Torvrar sighs loudly as he and the rest of the Companions begin to follow Vilkas. "Things just keep getting more and more awkward around here..." He mumbled as he watched his feet while he walked. "And for once, it's not you." Athis replied.

As Hope passes the stables and a few by standers, she can hear them speak. "Did you just hear that!?" The stable boy shouted. "Was that what I think it was!?" A woman on the road gasped. _'What was it?'_ Hope wanted to know, but she didn't ask, she didn't stop. She just wanted to get back to Jorrvaskr even though she didn't know what she was going to do when she got there. What can she do? What should she do? She didn't understand what just happened, non of it! And why was it happening to her!?

Why...were they calling her? She didn't even really know if it was a _they_ or if they really were calling _her_..even though the feeling she was getting inside told her otherwise. Gods...she didn't want to think about it any more...she just...wanted to get back and...figure out what exactly was going to happen next.

When she reaches the gates, she ignores the guards who were looking at the sky like dumb squawking birds. She pushes the gates open and quickly enters the city. With her arms wrapping around her, she quickly makes her way down the streets, trying her hardest to ignore the rabble all around her.

"You!" A guard shouts. Hope quickly stops and slowly turns her head towards him. She watches him hurry from the blacksmith and up to her. "I saw you with the housecarl earlier, does that mean you were with her at the watch tower?" He quickly asks. Hope stares at him for a moment, not really sure if she wanted to answer that or not..but she does by giving him a simple nod.

"The Jarl demands a report from anyone coming from the watch tower, you need to get up to Dragonsreach, now." The guard told her, showing a bit of panic in his voice from what just happened moments ago. She even saw him quickly glance up at the sky before walking away from her.

Hope stands there, watching him walk away and try to decide if she should do what he said...Why should she? It's not really her responsibility for that, Irileth can do it when she gets back. Even though Hope was sure of her decision on what to do...she still found herself walking the shorter route to Dragonsreach. _'Gods be damned, why do I have to do this? I don't have to do anything!'_ She quickly stops and then turns around to walk her original route to Jorrvaskr, but then she stops again.

No matter how much she tried to force herself to walk away, to deny the feelings inside of her...she couldn't and that was why she once again, found herself walking back down the short route towards Dragonsreach. _'I hate this.'_ She told herself and she did. She hated everything about it, she hated the feelings stirring inside of her and she hated the splintering head ache that appeared just moments after...what happened with the dragon.

' _Gods I hate this.'_ Her eyes start to sting as tears begin to form in the very corners of them. She felt like she had cried enough, but then again felt like it was okay to cry a little more. She was glad that the others weren't around to see her...

She wipes her tears away with the palm of her hand as she stops in front of the great stone stairs that led to Dragonsreach. She stairs up at the stairs and watches a couple of guards talk to each other at the very top of them. She stares at them for a short moment before releasing a heavy sigh and taking the first step and to her...it felt like it was the first step to many.

Finally she reaches the last step and her feet were heavy when she stepped up to it. Not because she was tired...but because she still wanted to go back and let everyone else handle this, but she didn't. Gods, she didn't. Why did she? Why did she keep going? What in the gods names does she have to gain from any of it? What was the reason for her wanting to keep going? There was non, at least non she knew and that didn't help the strange unwanted feelings inside her; in fact, all of those questions she kept asking herself only made them worse.

She sighs when she reaches the great wooden doors and pulls them open. When she enters the grate hall of Dragonsreach, she immediately hears arguing. "My lord, please calm down." She heard Avenicci say. "No I will not calm down!" The Jarl shouted. "You heard it yourself! What else could it be!?"

"It can be nothing else." This time an unfamiliar and much deeper voice spoke. When Hope reached the top of the small stair case that led to his throne, everyone immediately became quiet. The Jarl's eyes right away looked to Hope, making Avenicci and the unfamiliar tall man turn to look at her. Hope looked at them nervously before slowly approaching the Jarl's throne.

"You're back." The Jarl said as he intensely looked at Hope. She felt like he was searching for something...but what?

Hope slowly nodded in response. "Tell me what happened." He demanded.

"The uh..." She starts to fidget while tangling her fingers together in front of her. "The tower was destroyed, but we were able to kill the dragon." She told him, sending massive waves of relief through him. He lets out a sigh as he slightly leans back in his chair with his eyes closed. "I knew Irileth could do it..." He said with more relief showing in his voice.

He slowly opens his eyes and stares at her for a moment, making her fidget in her place more. "That couldn't be all that's happened though...right?" He asked, making Hope quickly look down and away from him. "I knew it..." He breathed as he slowly leaned forward in his throne. "More happened...what was it?" He asked, making Hope dart her eyes away from him.

"Uhm." Her voice shakes and her heart beats hard against her chest, it was a simple question but how was she going to answer it? What was she going to say? Anyone who wasn't there would think her mad if she told him what truly happened...

"Uhm.." She repeats as she shifts uncomfortably in her place. "After the...after the dragon died it sort of...disappeared?" Was that the right way to say it? How else was she going to say it?

"Disappeared? Like how?" The Jarl asked, wanting more detail of the aftermath. Hope slowly looks up at him and stares into his eyes for a moment...feeling like he already knew what happened but wanted her to say it. She then quickly shut her eyes and covered her face with her hands before speaking quickly. "When the dragon died I absorbed something from it!"

It sounded crazy and stupid. She quickly slides her hands up from her face and through her hair before continuing to speak. "I know that sounds weird and crazy and I can't explain any of it and I can't explain why it happened but it did happen and I don't know what to do!" She didn't mean to add in that last part, her emotions and feelings inside of her were just so out of control, she couldn't even control the tears welding in the corners of her eyes.

The Jarl stares at her calmly, surprising Hope. Again...he looked like he expected something like that had happened.

"I knew it." He whispered before giving her a small smile. He than stands from his throne and walks down the steps towards Hope. He stands in front of her for a moment before gently laying a hand on her shoulder to draw her eyes back to him. "I knew it the moment I saw you." He said. "I knew there was something special about you, something so special that the gods decided to spare you from the chaos of Helgen and everything else."

Hope stares at him with her eyes wide and her eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "And the moment I heard the Greybeards voices in the sky...I knew it was you they were calling for."

"The...the Greybeards?" Hope questioned.

"Have you not heard of them?" Balgruuf asked, sounding surprised. "They are the masters of the way of the voice and it was you they were summoning." He told her.

"Did you not hear them outside of the city?" The unknown man quickly asks, making Hope look at him.

"That was the Greybeards." He explains as he takes a step towards her. "They were summoning you to High Hrothgar and this...ha.." He gives off a small laugh that had a bit of disbelief in it. "This hasn't happened in centuries at least...not sense Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora."

"Hrongar, calm yourself." Avenicci interrupted. "What does this Nord nonsense have to do with our friend here? With anything at all to that matter?"

Hrongar quickly scoffs and furrows his eyebrows down at Avenicci. "Nord nonsense!? Why you puffed up! Ignorant little-"

"Hrongar!" Balgruuf cuts him off with a small chuckle following after. "Don't be so hard on Avenicci."

"Hmph." Hrongar exclaimed with a frown.

"I meant no disrespect of course!" Avenicci quickly apologizes. "It's just..." He then looks at Hope and looks her up and down. "What do these Greybeards want with her? As capable as she may be, I see no signs of her being this...Dragonborn."

 _'I agree.'_ Hope thinks to herself.

"That's the Greybeards business, not ours." Balgruuf told him before he turned his attention back to Hope. "Whatever happened when you killed that dragon..it revealed something in you and the Greybeards heard it...we all did. So if I were you, I'd get up to High Hrothgar as soon as possible; there's no refusing the Greybeards."

"But..." Hope trails off, collecting her thoughts and words together. "But what if...I'm not..."

"You doubt what has been shown to you?" Balgruuf questioned with his eyebrows lifted.

"I don't know what's been shown to me..." Hope admitted with her eyes falling to the ground. "I don't know or understand anything anymore..."

"That's why you must go to the Greybeards." Balgruuf nodded as he placed another gentle hand on her shoulder. "If anyone can help you understand the things that are happening, if anyone can help you find the answers you are looking for, it's the Greybeards."

Hope slowly looks back up at him as he releases her shoulder. "You know what you must do now and it's as much as a start you're going to get from the Gods to begin your destiny." With nothing else left to say, Balgruuf turns and walks back up the steps that lead to his throne. Hope watches him for a moment before turning and leaving the great hall of Dragonsreach.

When Hope walks outside, she notices clouds in the sky that were not there before and she could smell the moisture in the air. _'Rain...fitting end to a day like this...'_ She thought to herself as she walked down the stairs that led away from Dragonsreach. Guards stared at her on her way down, making the dreadful feelings inside of her only increase. So, she hurried down the stairs, wishing to be home as soon as possible.

But when she reaches the doors leading to Jorrvaskr, she finds herself only standing in front of them. Listening to the hushed talking inside. _'Looks like the others made it back...'_ She felt her chest tighten and a hard lump rise in her throat, she couldn't hear what they were saying but she could only imagine what was spilling from their mouths.

She stared down at the door handle a bit longer before slowly raising a heavy hand to grab it. Her hand shook as did her legs, she didn't want to inside, she didn't want to face the others...she didn't want to face Vilkas. Not after the fight they had... Just remembering the way he looked at her and the way he accused her...

Hope's chest tightens more and her stomach now hurts. _'Gods I don't want to go inside...but I'm so tired...'_ She quickly shuts her eyes and takes in a deep breath, trying to soothe the feelings inside of her and settle her heart down. Even though it didn't do much, she still swung open the door and even though everyone immediately became silent after she walked in, she avoided their eyes and just went her way towards the stairs. Refusing to look at any of them, she walks down the stairs and can't feel any more relieved when she gets to the bottom of them, when she gets away from everybody...

But now that the hard part was over, exhaustion quickly takes over her body, physically and mentally. So she drags her heavy feet on the floor and makes her way to the quarters, to her bed.

She slowly lowers her bow and arrows off her back as well as unstraps her belt and sword from her waist. After all of that is off of her, she sits herself down on her bed and can't help but let out a sigh of relief. She leans her body forward and hangs her head with her fingers gripping the edge of the bed. She stares down at the floor with tired eye as Balgruuf's words come back to her.

 _"If anyone can help you understand the things that are happening, if anyone can help you find the answers you are looking for, it's the Greybeards."_

She quickly shakes her head and presses the palms of her hands to her eyes, making herself see stars behind her lids. _'But why me!'_ Is all she can think.

 _"You deny what has been shown to you?"_ Balgruuf's voice rings back in her head.

 _'What in gods names has been shown to me!?'_ Death? Destruction? Pain? Agony? Destiny? Confusion? Fear? Were all of those things supposed to have shown her what was going to happen? Was Helgen supposed to show her what was going to happen? Did watching all of those people die suppose to show her what was going to happen!?

 _"We don't always know the will of the gods girl, maybe...such chaos was meant to happen to allow someone to rise and put an end to that chaos for the good of Tameriel."_ Now Kodlak's words ring her head, making her slowly lower her hands from her eyes.

 _"You curse the gods and say that they only stood by and watched as their children burned in front of them, well I say that amidst the chaos, the gods will reach a hand out and choose a hero to save the rest that live. Letting the deaths that came before, have meaning."_

So was that it then? Was that the reason why Hope lived that day in Helgen? Was that the reason so many people died that day? Just so the gods could...pick out some kind of champion? _'No!'_ She refuses! Hope was no champion and she was no toy to be played with! She was not a hero! She was just...a simple farmer's daughter that wished to have more in life...and damn...did she get more in her life...

 _"When we think we have everything figured out and under control, is when the gods often show themselves."_

"But why?" She cried out loud as she re-covered her eyes with her hands. "Why me?" She cried again, no longer trying to stop the tears escaping her eyes. "Gods..." She sniffs. "What do I do?"

"A question that's often asked when we find ourselves at a cross-roads." Hope jumps when Kodlak speaks and then quickly looks away to shamefully wipe her tears away.

He watches her from the door-way for a moment before walking over and taking a seat on the bed next to her. He looks straight a head, waiting for her to finish regaining herself. "I didn't know you were there." She said quietly, trying to hide the fear and emotions she was just feeling seconds ago.

Kodlak turns and watches her for a moment before releasing a slow sigh. "A lot has happened today, hasn't it?" He said. Hope nods in response after slowly setting her hands down in her lap.

"There was a lot of confusion and fear in the air today...and I'm not talking about the fight with the dragon."

Hope looks down at her lap and slowly scratches dirt off her pants with her thumb. "You say you don't know what to do, but I think you do, I think you can feel it inside of you." Kodlak said, making Hope tense.

"You feel something you wish to not feel, but cannot get rid of, am I right?"

Hope slowly nods in response, keeping her head down and her eyes away from him. "That's our gut and probably the Gods speaking to us, telling us where to go." He said with his eyes remaining on Hope. "So tell me girl, do you know where to go?"

She just sits there for a moment, trying to deny and ignore the feeling inside of her but like Kodlak said, she can't. No matter how hard she tries, she can't get rid of it. "I...think I have to go to the Greybeards..." It doesn't sound any better when she says it, in fact it makes her want to go even less...but she knew it was the only place where she could find any answers at all.

"I think so too." Kodlak said with a small smile on his face. Hope sits there in silence again before looking up at him for just a second and then looking away again. "Am I-" She has to cut herself off because she felt like she was on the very edge of breaking down again, because she was afraid of the answer she was going to get. "Am I...going to have to this on my own?"

"I'm afraid no shield-sibling can accompany you this time, my girl." Kodlak answered truthfully. _'I knew it.'_ But that doesn't make her feel any better. In fact...it just makes her feel worse. She's never truly been alone before, she's done a job on her own..but that was it... This time..she was going to be completely on her own with no one to turn to and no one to help her...

"This is something you must do on your own for now, a road that is only yours." Funny, his words of wisdom were not making her feel any better... "But remember this..." Hope slowly looks up at him and this time, keeps her eyes on his. "Just because you have to start this journey alone..don't ever think you are alone. Because even though the world is large and may seem too much for you at times...just remember that Jorrvaskr is here, that the Companions are here and you will always have a home to return to." He said with his hand giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Even though the words he speaks causes her lip to tremble and her eyes to water, she does feel a little better now..knowing she can always come back, especially if things get too hard. "Now, I suggest you rest here for the rest of the night. You'll need the energy tomorrow when you leave for High Hrothgar." Why does she have to leave so soon? "I know that doesn't give you very much time to gather everything that's happened, but it's something you and I both know that you must do quick." He was right, she just didn't want to admit it.

"So if I were you." He slowly stands up from her bed and stretches his back out. "I'd do what I can tonight to patch things up with Vilkas." Hope's eyes widen, taken completely surprise by that. "I'd hate for you to leave with a fight like that being the last thing you both did together."

Hope slowly looks down to the floor, she knew he was right again...but could she really face Vilkas tonight? Would he even want to see her after what happened?

"It might be hard to believe..." Kodlak speaks again, making Hope look back up at him. "But I know the lad feels bad for what happened, so I imagine he'd like to see you too before tomorrow." Kodlak looks down at Hope one more time. "Think about it." He said with a smile before turning and leaving the quarters.

Gods...seeing Vilkas right now...Hope felt like that was going to be harder than leaving Jorrvaskr...

* * *

 **So you guys are probably wondering why I left out the whole Thank of Whiterun thing from the beginning. Well..it just doesn't fit my story because I'm making it my own so that's why ^.^" I hope it doesn't mess it up too much for you guys! Thanks for reading!**


	56. Chapter 56

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS HEAVY SMUT IN IT SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT STUFF THEN SKIP THAT PART OF THIS CHAPTER!**

* * *

Hope didn't know long she had been standing out in the hallway, staring down the direction Vilkas's room was in. It could of been hours fall all she knew.

Every time she would take a step down the hall, she'd retract it and then curse herself for being a coward. _'Come on, this isn't the first time you've had to do something like this with Vilkas.'_ She told herself as she remembered the night she told him she knew what he was. So, after shutting her eyes for a long moment and taking a deep breath, she finally starts walking and this time forces herself not to stop.

A heavy sigh leaves Vilkas as he sits on the edge of his bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his head bowed. He stared down at his bare feet on the floor and couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Not what happened with Hope after she killed the dragon, but what **he** did afterwords. _'Such a moron.'_ He told himself as he lifted his hands up and pressed them against his eyes.

He wanted to talk to Hope, tell her he didn't mean the things he said, but he didn't know where she was. When they returned to Jorrvaskr she wasn't there, he looked everywhere in the building and couldn't find her. So for all he knows...she's gone, she's run away and honestly...who could blame her? To have all of that happen to her in one day...in no more than a month...Vilkas didn't blame her at all, he just wished he could've said he was sorry before she left; if that's what she really did anyways...

A hesitant knock on Vilkas's door makes him jump. He sits up straight and looks at his door with furrowed eyebrows. Why would anybody be bothering him now? What could anybody possibly want? He sighed as he slowly stood from his bed and made his way over to his door. The only person he could really imagine bothering him right now was Kodlak and it was kind of expected. Especially since he didn't really say anything to him about what he did when they returned to Jorrvaskr.

But to his surprise, it was Hope that stood on the other side of his door. "Liah." He says her real name with out thinking and she doesn't who any sign of noticing. All she does is give him a small half-smile before looking down towards the floor. "I..I was looking for you earlier but couldn't find you..." Vilkas began, but he's suddenly at lost for words.

He feels so ashamed for what happened and how he acted towards Hope when he really should of just been there for her and comforted her. "I uh..." He sighs as he rests a hand on the back of his neck. "I thought maybe...you had left.." He admitted.

Hope quickly looks back up at him with her eyebrows pinched together. "You thought I left? Left for good?" She questioned and he nodded in response. "I'd..never do that..at least not for good..." She said with her eyes going back down to the floor. Now Vilkas is the one looking at her with his eyebrows pinched together, catching on to the upset tone in her voice.

Hope slightly looks back up at him before quickly looking around her. "Would it be okay if I came in? I'd rather have this conversation in private." She said and Vilkas nodded while standing to the side to let her pass. When she's in the room, Vilkas shuts his door and then turns towards her. She has her back to him and her head down. He watches her slowly wrap her arms around herself before speaking. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier..." She said quietly.

"Why are you apologizing? I should be the one to say sorry." Vilkas replied as he walked around to her front. She slowly looks up at him and this time holds his gaze for a moment before looking away again. "I wasn't thinking, I just panicked after...what happened." He explained. "I just..." He trails off, his eyes scanning the ceiling of his room before he sighs and slowly wraps his arms around Hope-taking her by surprise just a bit. "I just don't want to lose you..." He whisperers as he brings her body to his. She tenses up under the muscles of his arms but then relaxes and gets lost in the embrace for just a moment, but only a moment...

Hope slowly places her hands on his chest and pushes herself out of his arms, making him look down at her confused. "There was another reason why I wanted to talk to you..." She said, refusing to look at him because honestly if she did, she knew she would break.

Vilkas stares at her hard, trying to read the emotions in her eyes and in her voice; and he just knew...he wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"Tomorrow..." She trails off to swallow a hard lump rising in her chest, a lump that hurt so much that it made her chest ache. "Tomorrow I have to leave." Her voice breaks and her eyes water. She tries to stay strong, but she can't and the tears begin to flow. "What do you mean you have to leave?" Vilkas questioned with his eyebrows furrowed.

Hope slowly looks up at him, showing the tears in her eyes and the small quiver in her lip. "I have-" She has to stop to wipe her tears away and to try and regain control of her emotions, but it was hard. He watches her wipe the tears away from her eyes with the palms of her hands, she then takes in a deep and steady breath before speaking again. "You know..that weird thunderous sound we heard outside of Whiterun?" She asked and Vilkas nodded.

"Well...in case you didn't know...I guess that came from a group called the Greybeards."

 _'The Greybeards...'_ Yeah, Vilkas had heard of them before and he even had a hunch earlier that it was them..but he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to know because he knew it would...they would...

"And apparently...they were calling for me..."

Yeah...Vilkas already knew...

"What are you going to do?" Vilkas asked with a voice he tried to keep strong...but struggled to..

"I..I have to go to them..." She answered. "Why?" Vilkas quickly questioned, making her look at him again. "So what they were summoning you? So what when you killed that dragon you absorbed its soul? So **what** that you're the dragonborn!" He shouted, taking them both by surprise. "To oblivion with the Greybeards! To oblivion with the dragons! You don't have to do a damn thing!"

Hope stares at him surprised for a moment, watching his chest fall and rise rapidly. Seeing the clear struggles he was going through with everything happening inside him. Vilkas was never good at handling his emotions, especially when things like this happen to him...and Hope knew that. So her eyes soften and her hand slowly reaches up to rest on the side of his face.

She feels his jaw tighten beneath her palm but then slowly relax against it. They stare into each others eyes for a long moment, allowing the overwhelming thickness in the air to disperse and the emotions inside him to come to a halt. Then she gets a hold of her own emotions before speaking. "You know...you know that's not true." She said making him tightly shut his eyes and move his head away from her hand.

She watches him turn and walk towards his bed. He sits down on the edge of it and runs both of his hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp on the way to the back of his head. Hope slowly approaches him. She lets Vilkas sit there for a moment in silence, allowing him to get a hold of the emotions inside him once more.

After a small moment of silence, he slowly lowers his hands from his head and looks up at Hope with eyes that showed much heaviness. "But why you do you have to do it?" He asked in a quiet tone of voice, one that showed the types of feelings inside of him and one that broke her heart. "I don't know..." She answered with her bottom lip trembling. "Why is it always you..." Vilkas sighed as he dropped his head again and rested a hand on the back of his neck.

"I wish I could answer that..." Hope replied with a small, sad smile. Vilkas scratches at his head at a fast and aggravated pace before quickly standing up and grabbing Hope by the shoulders. She looks up at him confused and surprised. "If you're going, than I'm going with you." He said with a confident and stubborn voice.

Hope gives him another sad smile. "You can't." She tells him. "Why?" Vilkas asks with his hands remaining firm on her shoulders. "Because this...this is something I have to do alone...at least...for right now." She told him.

"That doesn't really answer my question." Vilkas pointed out, showing his irritation. "It does answer your question Vilkas, you just don't want to accept it." Hope replied.

Vilkas lets out a loud and aggravated groan before roughly letting go of Hopes shoulders and walking around the room at a fast pace. Hope watches him for a moment before speaking again. "Vilkas, please just try to understand-" He cuts her off. "Understand what? That you're leaving by yourself and doing gods knows what out there!" He shouts.

"Understand that you, yet again, want to refuse my help and die!?" He shouts again. "Vilkas, this is the only way I can find out anything at all! You saw the destruction for yourself at the tower, you saw what a dragon is capable of and you've learned that there are more than one out there!" Hope argues. "If I'm...if I am really...Dragonborn than you know like I do that...I'm...the only one that can..." She stutters as the words spill from her mouth because they just sound insane. Dragonborn, the only one that can stop the dragons, the only one that can keep others from sharing the same fate as Helgen. No, that wasn't her, it wasn't supposed to be her...but then again..it was and the road laid out before her was clear.

Vilkas suddenly comes to a halt and Hope stares at him with her eyebrows knit together. She watches him slowly lift a hand up to his face and grip the bridge of his nose with his fingers. She waits for a moment before speaking again. "The Greybeards...are the only ones that can help me Vilkas...the only ones that can make me understand what is happening and what it is I have to do..." She was right, Vilkas knew she was right but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to think about her leaving and imagining what Jorrvaskr will be like with out her...what he will be like with out her...

With a sigh Vilkas slowly lowers his hand away from his face and looks down at the wooden floor beneath his feet. He stands there in silence for a moment, trying to think of anything he could say that might change her mind..but non come to him; non come to him because he knew there was nothing he could say to change her mind. She was stubborn, hard headed, independent, and brave. She was the bravest, strongest, and most beautiful woman he had ever known.

Gods she was so beautiful and just having her scent around him always made him go crazy and just picturing himself with out that, with out her, tore his insides up. Vilkas tightens his jaw as he turns his head away from Hope. He's gotten so used to being around her he doesn't want to think about things going back to normal with out her.

But it's not forever, right? _'I need to do this alone...at least for now...'_ The words she spoke just moments ago float in his mind. For now...only for now was she leaving, only for now was she going alone. He didn't know exactly how long "for now" was going to last, but it was something to hold onto. Something to remind him that...it wasn't going to be forever. Something to remind him that she will come back, she will come back to him.

Although she was leaving for now, she was still here tonight and she was still here with him...

So, with out even thinking about it, Vilkas turns and after one giant step he wraps his arms around Hope and immediately connects his lips to hers. She's surprised at first, her body tenses against his but then slowly relaxes as she starts to kiss him back. They stand there for a long moment, lost in their passionate kiss before Vilkas pulls away and looks deeply into her eyes with one hand resting on the side of her face.

"Stay with me tonight." He said, taking her by surprise again. Hope stares at him with her eyes wide and eyebrows knit together. "I know you probably have to prepare for tomorrow but..." He trails off to slowly press his forehead into hers while keeping his eyes locked onto hers. "Just...just stay here, with me tonight. I don't know how long you're going to be gone and I just..I just need you here with me tonight...on your last night..."

Hope stares at him for a moment, her eyes wide and her lips just partially open. She knows she shouldn't, she knows it would only make leaving harder, but...she kisses him anyways. Bringing him into a deep and passionate kiss that he takes over quickly. She knows what she's doing is wrong, she knows it'll be just as hard for Vilkas to say goodbye, but at the moment she doesn't care and neither does he. Because at the moment they have each other and that was enough.

Vilkas slowly moves his hand to the back of Hope's head as she finds herself being backed up into a wall. He presses her into it and presses himself onto her, taking in as much of her as he possibly could. He places a hand on the dip of her back as he slowly grips her hair between his fingers. Earning him a quiet moan like back at Bleakfalls Barrow. Vilkas can't help himself when he grips her hair a bit harder to force her head back a bit so that he could treat the soft flesh on her neck with butterfly kisses.

She whimpers when he stops at a certain spot located on the middle of her neck. He takes notice to the sensitivity of the area and begins to suck on it, leaving a fairly dark bruise, leaving his mark. Hope grips his shoulders tightly as she feels him slowly slide his tongue up her neck to her jaw line. She tightly pressed her legs together, desperately trying to fight against the unfamiliar feelings appearing in her body.

She was breathing hard while Vilkas moved his hand from her back to his side and started to feel up her curves. He was moving fast, gods, Vilkas was almost acting like an animal against her but he couldn't help it. The moment she kissed him, he lost it. He let go of control and allowed the lust he had held back and the want he had for her to surface.

She gasps when he quickly grips her bottom and he takes the opportunity to claim her mouth once more. He feels her tense up against him when he slips his tongue into her mouth but after a small minute, she relaxes and allows him take control over her mouth.

They're lost in the deep and heavy kiss for a long moment before Vilkas grips her leg from behind and lifts it to meet his hip. Vilkas's fast movement surprises her, even scares her because for a moment she thought she was going to lose her balance and fall. She quickly pulls away from Vilkas and holds onto him tightly, still not sure if she had good enough balance like this. But Vilkas had her and he wasn't going to ever let her fall.

She holds on tighter when Vilkas slowly lifts her up a bit from the floor with the hand that once was holding her hair now holding the other side of her bottom while the other remained gripping onto her leg. He looks down at her, watching her slowly peer down at the position he had her in now with his eyes clouded over with lust.

Slowly, he moves her leg to the side a bit and pushes his pelvis against her core. Causing a sharp gasp to escape from her. She tenses up bad against him and holds onto his shoulders tightly as she looks back up at him. Another unfamiliar feeling shoots through her nether regions when she sees the look in his eyes. When she sees the want he's been holding back for a long time now.

He keeps his eyes on hers as he slowly begins to grind himself against her core, causing friction that they both desperately ended up needing. Her leg muscles tense in his grip as her breathing quickens while he continues to grind into her. He did so, because he needed to know if this was what she really wanted. He needed to know now if she wanted to go any further because he feared once he's started...he won't be able to stop; and by the looks she gives him as well as the slow movement coming from her hips, shows him that she wants him, no, needs him.

So with out wasting any time, Vilkas quickly sweeps her off her feet, earning him another surprised gasp before laying her down onto his bed. As he climbs on top of her, he takes a moment to enjoy the way she looks laying beneath him. He admires how her hair spread out around her, looking like waves of blood and her lips, glowing red from all of the passionate kisses he gave her. In fact, looking at them and admiring the color he made them only made him want to kiss them more. So he does and she kisses him back. He feels her slowly move her arms around his neck, bringing him closer so that she could take as much of his lips as he was taking of hers.

He slowly pulls away from her and looks into her eyes, seeing the innocence in them. She wanted to be with him, but he could see she was nervous, afraid even. So to try and calm the nerves inside her, he places a soft kiss on her lips and then another on her cheek before trailing his lips down to her jawline. She closed her eyes as she felt him kiss along her jaw-line until he reached her neck and began to kiss down it, earning himself a small whimper.

Gods, the sounds she made and the way she moved beneath him as he ran a hand down her curve drove him crazy. It almost made him lose control, lose control of himself and the wolf inside that was begging to be let released so that it could claim her like it had been wanting to for so long now. This moment thought, surprised him because it was not a moment he would of never imagined himself in with her in the beginning.

In the beginning...gods the beginning seemed so long ago now, when she was nothing more but a girl who wanted adventure and excitement-and he was a boy who could hardly stand to be around her for a time, but after a time, he found himself wanting nothing more but to be around her. He was crazy about her and he regretted that it took this long to admit that.

She tenses up when she feels Vilkas's hands start to unstrap her armor, but she doesn't stop him. She watches him fight with the leather strips with eyes filled with hunger and want, for a moment she could see the wolf inside him behind his eyes but she knew he was holding it back, in fact..she knew he was holding a lot back right now by the way his muscles and jaw would tighten every time she so much as breathed.

Vilkas kept his eyes glued to her torso as he struggled with the last strap, desperately wanting to see what he's imagined and dreamed about for months. Finally, it's undone and he doesn't waste any time opening the leather caress that hid her body from him. A frustrated growl leaves his throat when he sees -like most women- she had a breast cover on. He starts to move his hand to undo the ties around her neck, but to his surprise, she's already reaching for them.

He looks at her and notices a red blush had taken over her freckled cheeks. He slowly runs a finger down her cheek before lowering his head down and placing a deep kiss onto her lips. The kiss relaxes her and even gets a bit more heated as she starts untying the ties behind her back. When she's done pulling them loose, Vilkas slowly pulls away and looks down at the now undone cloth lying on her breasts. Before even reaching for it, Vilkas looks back to her to make sure it was okay and her eyes tells him that it was okay.

Vilkas exhales a hot breath of air as he slowly reaches for the thin cloth and pulls it away. Heat fills his body and reaches his head as he looks down at something he'd imagined for a long time now and they were better than he ever thought they'd be. Slowly, he moves a hand to one and grabs it gently; causing Hope to stir and move beneath him, but not because it was uncomfortable, because it was new and it stirred new things inside her.

He massaged the one breast as he grabbed the other one and he couldn't believe how well they fit in his hand, it was almost like they were made just for his hands. Hope presses her legs together tightly as she breaths heavily beneath him. Vilkas slowly leans down and kisses down her neck as he continues to massage both of her breasts. Hope whimpers when he kisses down from her neck, to her shoulder, and then to her chest.

First he only admires the brown-pink buds before slowly taking one of them in his mouth, earning a jump and small whimper from Hope. He can't help but smile as he sucks hard on her breast, everything he does surprises her and he can't wait to see how she reacts to the rest of everything he had planned..he just hoped he will be able to control himself because honestly he was having a hard time doing that.

Vilkas kisses the bud before moving to her other breast and giving it the same kind of treatment. Now Hope was a mess under neath him, her heart was beating hard against her chest and heat was spreading all through out her body causing her to press her thighs together hard. She moaned a bit louder than she meant to when Vilkas nipped her nipple and he was pleased by it.

Vilkas plants a kiss on top of that bud before running his tongue down her body, making her back arch. He stops at the top of her pants and leaves small kisses on her thighs before grabbing her pants by the side. He was ready to pull them off, but she stops him by quickly grabbing his wrist. "Wait..." She breaths, making Vilkas sit up and look at her.

He watches her slightly bite her lower lip and eye his cotton shirt. She was beginning to feel weird being the only one exposed like she was. Vilkas gives her a half grin before reaching up and pulling his shirt off, revealing the hidden muscles and chest hair beneath. She examined and admired the way he looked, she figured he would look...really good and he did. She examines the dark chest hair spread out on his upper chest and then followed it down to a hair line that disappeared into his pants.

She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she was too nervous. Gods, even after how far she's come and everything Vilkas has done to her, she was still too nervous, too shy. _'Don't be...'_ She tells herself, but it was easier said than done...

Still though, she slowly reaches out and rests her palm against his abdomen, feeling the hard muscle that's been built up in his abs over the years. She shyly looks up at him and he seems to be enjoying it. Vilkas looks into her eyes as he slowly lays his body down on top of hers, pressing his chest against her breast so that they were completely skin to skin. He shivers when he feels the soft skin of her mounds press against his hard chest. He leans his head down and takes her lips into a deep kiss once again, enjoying every second of it.

Hope slowly ran her hands up his sides and to his back. She feels him shiver violently when she gently runs her nails down his back, she can't help but run her nails down along his ribs and to his abdomen-giving her another violent shiver from the massive Companion on top of her.

Vilkas shifts himself between Hope's legs and begins to grind himself into her core again, causing Hope to dig her nails into his sides on accident. The action earns her a deep groan though, one that rumbles through his chest and into her, sending waves heat down her legs. Vilkas can't resist the urge to pick up his pace, so grinds against her faster and harder with his hot breath hitting the side of her neck. Hope holds onto him tightly as she breaths and moans against his ear, encouraging him to keep going.

"Vilkas." She breaths, making him come to a slow stop. He slowly kisses up her neck towards her jaw before leaning up to look down at her. His eyes are full of lust as they look deeply into Hope's eyes. "I don't think I can wait any longer..." He whispers, his voice husky and dry. He watches her eyebrows quickly pinch together and her eyes show a bit of fear. He stares at her for a moment before speaking. "..If you don't want to go any farther-" She cuts him off. "I-I do." She stutters. "I do, I've just..." she trails off, her voice showing her nerves. "I've just never done anything like this before..."

Vilkas's eyes soften as he runs a finger down her cheek before leaning down and giving her lips a soft kiss. "I know..." He whispers before giving her another kiss. "Tell me what you want." He said while leaning up again. Hope stares up at him for a moment, her eyes showing more of her nerves than before. "I..." She trails off, becoming too shy to say.

Vilkas watches her bite her lower lip for a second before finally answering him. "I..I want you..." She admits with her cheeks showing a bit of color. "Are you sure?" He asks and she nods in response.

She hears a deep ragged sigh leave Vilkas as he leans down and kisses the freckles that decorate her upper chest. He then runs his fingers down her curves before stopping at the top of her leather pants. He doesn't waste time by taking off her bottom ware piece of piece, he just grabs her pants along with her small-cloths and pulls them all off at once, including her boots.

Suddenly feeling exposed, Hope quickly closes her legs to hide herself as Vilkas tosses her cloths to the side. He then gently rubs the sides of her legs while also planting small kisses on the tops of her knees. Hope bites her bottom lip as she slowly opens her legs back up, completely revealing herself to him.

Her heat hits him like a wall and for a moment, he thought he was going to completely lose himself. He has to take a minute to regain control over the beast inside and once he does, he takes in Hope completely for just a moment. Looking down at her, seeing everything of her was just mesmerizing. "Gods..." Vilkas breaths as he quickly pulls down his pants as well as his own small-cloths and tosses them to the side, exposing him and the painfully hard member that was hidden beneath his trousers.

He slowly lays down on top of her and kisses her neck as he reaches down and gently begins to touch her. Her body tenses and she's immediately a moaning mess against him as his fingers find her most sensitive area. They run circles around the bundle of nerves before a single finger is dipped into her so that Vilkas can know exactly how tight she was.

She gasps and her legs tighten around his waist as he slowly fingers her. She's tight and he's afraid he might hurt her, so he knows he needs to be slow and careful. Two things he's always had a hard time being when in bed with someone...but Hope was different and he would do anything for her.

Vilkas removes his hand from her womanhood and lifts his face to hers so that their eyes can meet again. "Are you ready?" He asks and she slowly nods, her fear beginning to resurface in her eyes but she doesn't let it get in the way. She was ready, she was ready to just be his.

Slowly, Vilkas shifts his hips, pushing the tip of his member into her tight core. She gasps and jumps at the sudden pain and clings onto him tightly. Vilkas stops for just a moment, letting her adjust to his size before pushing more of himself inside her and she gasps again with tears forming in the corner of her eyes this time.

She breaths hard against him as her nails dig into his back as he continues to push himself into her more. Once he's in all the way, it taks everything he has to stop and to wait. He looks down at her and wipes her tears away before kissing the trails they left behind on the sides of her cheeks.

He continues to kiss her face as she moves her hips just a little bit, motioning him to continue. Vilkas can't help but sigh in relief when he starts to thrust inside of her, feeling the warmth and tightness of her core around his length was just maddening and every single time he would move inside her he was sure he was going to lose himself; but he doesn't, he keeps it under control, for her.

Hope whimpers and moans against him, the feeling of pain almost being too much but slowly, she starts to feel the pain begin to fade away and turn into a strange kind of pleasure she's never experienced before. Her tears stop and she moans his name as he whispers sweet-nothings into her ear. His speed picks up a bit, causing a bit of pain to reappear inside of Hope but it doesn't last long.

Vilkas breaths hard against Hope's neck, trying to contain himself and make it last as long as possible. But it was hard, it was damn near impossible because everything about Hope was perfect. From the way she held onto him, the way she moaned his name, and the way she felt. He'd never been with anyone like Hope before and this made him want nobody else but her.

"Gods, Vilkas." She moans as she starts to feel an unfamiliar knot form in her stomach. It was uncomfortable and made her squirm beneath him. Her body was begging her for a release and she felt like she wasn't going to be able to deny it and neither could Vilkas. He couldn't hold it back anymore and the moment he releases himself inside of her, she does the same and both of their hips come to a very slow stop.

Vilkas stays laying on her for a moment, enjoying the small lightness in his head and the relief of release. Hope lays still beneath him, her breathing slowing down and her arms staying around him. Vilkas slowly pulls out of her, causing a shiver to erupt from them both. He sits up and looks down at the blood on his blanket.

Hope takes notice to his staring and slowly sits up to see what he's looking at. Her eyes widen when she sees the blood. "What's that!?" She quickly asks. "It's okay." Vilkas reassures her. "Is that from me?!" She quickly asks again. "It's okay, It's okay." Vilkas quickly reassures her again as he gets up from his bed to grab whatever he could to clean up the mess.

After he gets everything and themselves cleaned up, Vilkas covers Hope up with his blankets and gets underneath them with her. He turns his head to her and catches her staring at him with a heavy blush on her face. "What?" He asks with a small smile. "I just..didn't think I'd be doing this when I came here to talk..." She admitted with her eyes moving down towards the sheets.

Vilkas can't help but smile as he turns and wraps his arms around her body, he then pulls her up against him and rests his forehead on the top of her head. "I think it was a good talk." He joked and she quickly snorted in response.

They both lay there for a good while, enjoying the small moment they were sharing but that small moment was quickly taken over by the reality of things. Hope lays her head on his chest and runs a finger through the hair that decorated his torso. Vilkas rubs her back as he stares up at the ceiling, deep in thought.

Finally after a long silence, Hope breaks it. "You know..you know I'm coming back right?" She asked. "I'm not going to be gone forever..."

"I know." Vilkas sighed. "At least you better, come back that is because if you don't you know I'll come looking for you."

Hope chuckles in response as she buries her head into him, making him tighten his hold on her and if he could have it his way...he would never let her go.

The next was hard and slow, especially since Hope was sore but most of it was from Vilkas trying to slow her down. But in the end he stopped and helped her gather her things. He walked her up the stairs and to both of their surprises, the Companions were all waiting for them.

Kodlak was the first to react to the sound of the downstairs door opening and once he got out of his chair, the others followed. They all stood and waited for Hope to appear at the top of the steps. She looks out at all of them surprised and confused. "What's going on?" Vilkas asks.

"We all wanted to give you a proper goodbye before you left." He said as he and the others approached Hope. She knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye before, but now she felt like it was going to be impossible with everyone now with her.

The Companions all walk her to the gates of Whiterun and then down to the stables where she was going to take a carriage. They all come to a stop in the middle of the road before Hope turns around to face everybody. Kodlak approaches her first and gives her a warm smile as he rests a hand on her shoulder. "Best of luck to you girl, I know a lot has suddenly happened to you but I know you can handle it. You're an honorable woman and an honorable warrior, if anyone can do this, it's you." He said with a confident nod and smile. She nods back but...less confident. "Just remember what I said before, you're never alone and Jorrvaskr will always be your home."

Her chest suddenly tightens and she feels her eyes water, but she keeps it together..at least for now.

Now Aela approaches her with a bow in her hand. Hope looks down at the bow and is surprised when Aela hands it to her. "This bow has seen me through some tough times and has served me well. I know it will do the same for you and also let it be a reminder of what you've gone through to get to where you are." She said with a big smile as she took Hope's wooden bow from her.

Hope examined it for a moment, admiring the carving on its golden surface. She'd never seen elven weapons before but have heard of their beauty and power. She looks at Aela with a grateful smile before placing it on her back. The moment its in place, she can't help but feel it was just meant to be there. "Now take this." Eorlund quickly cuts in, making her look at him.

Aela lifts an eyebrow up at him before taking a step back so that he could approach Hope. "After I heard you lost your sword, I began to make you this one." He explained as he held out a sheathed sword to her. Hope looked at him for a moment before looking down at the sword and slowly unsheathing it.

She's taken by surprise when the swords beautiful designs reveal themselves to her. "Skyforged steel, now every Companions has one." He said with a proud smile after his work was revealed. "I don't know what to say..." Hope said as she looked between him and Aela both. "Don't worry about it lass." Eorlund shrugged. "Just give me that dented piece of iron scrap you've decided to use and we'll call it good."

Hope couldn't help but chuckle in response as she untied the sheathed sword she had and handed it to him. She then quickly tied her new sword to her belt and looked back up at the Companions, her family. "Don't get killed welp." Was all Skjor said with his usual frown, but Hope had a small feeling that he cared a little.

Ria quickly gives Hope a hug. "You come back to us you hear?"

"Yeah, because with you gone we'll only have more work to do..." Grumbled Torvrar, but Hope knew he also cared. Though times were rough with the Companions, she knew she made some friends and...more.

She said her goodbyes to the rest of the Companions before turning to Vilkas who was standing a few feet away behind some of the others. He had his arms crossed and his eyes away, still obviously unhappy about the situation but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. The Companions took one last moment to say goodbye to Hope again before turning and walking away, leaving her and Vilkas alone.

Vilkas watches them walk away for a moment before turning to face Hope. She stood in the same spot, her arms wrapped around herself as she looked at Vilkas with sadness filling her eyes. Vilkas's jaw tightens as does his muscles as he slowly approaches Hope. they both stand there for a long moment before he can no longer hold back and embrace her.

She wraps her arms tightly around his neck as he buries his face into her neck so that he could smell the scent of her air one last time. No, this won't be the last time because she will come back. She will survive on her own and she will come back to him.

He will wait for her return.

 **END**

 **NEXT STORY-FALTERING HOPE**

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 **Thank you guys so much for reading this story and I hope it was a good one! I'm sorry for such a late update, I just wanted to make sure it was a good and long chapter since it was the last one and I hope it was for you guys! I want to thank all my loyal readers and all of the kind comments you guys have left! I know this is the end of this story, but it's not the end of Hope! I am going to write another one so that we can continue her journey as Dragonborn and see just how it effects her and Vilkas! It may take a while for it to be posted though because I'm going to write out a lot of chapters before posting so that I can keep up with posting a chapter every week with out you guys having to wait! So keep your eyes open! Thanks again guys! I hope you enjoyed this story!**


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